Circles of Change Burning Homefronts
by Malaki8898
Summary: A newer more improved version of Circles of Change, details the story of the 12 Colonies of Kobol fighting off a ferocious invasion by a relentless foe.
1. Chapter 1

Circles of Change- Burning Homefronts

Chapter One

D5/21345 Battlestar Valkrie

Earth year- April 5th, 2226

Commander Adama looked around in the darkened CIC of the Valkrie waiting on Colonel Saul Tigh to arrive. The computer monitors were considerably more advanced than Galacticas as the Valkries were designed for special role operations and heavy-hitting. The Valkrie class Battlestars was equipped with ship-to-ship missiles and rocket propelled munitions that added to the punching power of the ship. The ship was operating on minimal power in an effort to hide it from sensor sweeps while still on the Colonial side of the Armistice line.

He thought deeply about the insanity and the possible implications of the mission could have if it went wrong. Admiral Corman seemed to want an excuse to start another conflict. The Admiralty feared that the Cylons either wanted nothing to do with the Colonies or building an armada. Adama himself felt that there may be some truth to Cormans words after a private meeting telling him that he believes the Cylons will attack at any moment.

The glass doors slid open and the old visage of Colonel Tigh walked through. He walked right next to Adama and focused his attention on the young Lt. Sarah Berry, the ships Tactical Officer who was working most strongly with Lt. Daniel Novacek. The Admiralty wanted a mission for him to cross the Armistice Line and gain intelligence on the Cylons. Daniel was selected as he was one of the best pilots and a member of Ghost Squadron, the special forces Viper unit. "Is Bulldog ready?" Colonel Tigh asked the blonde officer.

"He's ready, requesting authorization to launch."

"Patch me a line through to Bulldog." Commander Adama said to her. She transferred a private line over to him and he picked up a wireless headset.

"Is there anything else you need Bulldog?" He asked him, giving him the hint of the option of backing out as he stated to him personally before embarking on the mission."

"No sir I'm all ready to go." He said back to him. Adama gave him thanks and ordered the launch.

The Stealthstar was shaped like a regular Viper; however it was slightly larger and carried sensitive sensor equipment which could detect even small radiation signatures. The hull was completely black and could disguise itself from even the best Colonial sensors in field tests. Bulldog piloted it once it left the launch tube, activating several of the systems including the stealth systems. He looked on his DRADIS and noticed he was approaching ever closer to the Armistice Line.

"Ok Bulldog, you're going dark." Colonel Tigh said to him over the wireless. He deactivated his wireless as he approached the Line.

Adama and Tigh looked sternly at the DRADIS screens in front of them in the CIC; most of the crew was silent and paying attention to their screens showing the Stealthstar only having laser communication with the Valkrie. "She's past the line." Lt. Berry said while having readouts on the Stealthstar's systems to ensure they are properly functioning.

Meanwhile Bulldog looked at the sensitive equipment displays. His muscles tensed up as he was shocked to suddenly see he was being pinged by multiple DRADIS contacts. "Do they have special sensor buoys?" He thought to himself. His tenseness increased when he saw two more DRADIS contacts appear on his screen firing railgun rounds. He attempted to dodge them but failed as one struck his engine disabling it. Two more contacts appeared on his screen which were much larger and he knew in the back of his mind they were basestars. He soon saw a missile coming toward him at a high rate of speed. He pulled the ejection lever and everything went dark…

….And he saw the blinding lights of a ceiling overhead. "Am I on the Valkrie?" he asked himself. "No I can't be." He looked around as everything became clearer. The walls looked blue with white lights on them. He quickly noticed the metal bars in front of him which told him he was caged up. "Where the hell am I he asked out loud?"

"You're with us now." He heard a female voice say. He turned his head to look and saw a blond female walking toward him. Near a doorway he could see the outline of a robotic warrior which he thought looked like a newer version of a Cylon Centurion. "We have always planned for likely Colonial reconnaissance into our territories you will be a usefull asset to us."

"You're not going to fraking kill me?"

"No, we don't kill intelligence assets. You are a part of the Ghost Viper Squadron, so your knowledge will be important to us."

"I won't tell you shit." He spat out.

"We'll get you to talk don't worry." He felt a disorientating sensation as he knew the ship just jumped. He saw another woman walk in with brunette hair slightly shorter than the blond woman. "They must be androids or something." He thought to himself until he remembered Adama talking about the Cylons performing experiments on humans in the Polarn system, they all knew the Cylons wanted to look and act human eventually so they must have succeeded already.

All of his thoughts were suddenly disturbed by a violent rocking the ship suddenly took. The lights flickered for a moment and it happened again.

"We're under attack!" the blond woman yelled. "We have to head to the command center!" The brunette yelled back at her as they both ran. It was obvious this was an attack but by who? Did the Valkrie get authorization for a rescue mission that fast? It can't be, Adama is good at talking people into things but he isn't THAT good.

Agonizing minutes felt like hours as the rocking continued then stopped. He soon heard what sounded like gunfire and odd whizzing noises. He assumed they were bullets bouncing off in the hallways but who was fighting though? He could hear the sounds of yelling and gunfire getting closer. Whoever it was they were giving the Cylons a hell of a slaughter.

Soon he saw the Cylon Centurion leave and walk down one of the halls out of his view. He heard footsteps of both machines and boots; he hoped and prayed it was his comrades coming back for him, who else would be out here anyway? He quickly paid attention to a bright blue light that flickered down the hall accompanied by a whizzing sound and visible smoke. "What the frak was that?" He thought to himself and he soon saw another one with gunfire coming from the Centurion which had a collapsed half portion on the floor minus a head.

His attention focused on the sounds of boots coming closer. He saw a head peek into the doorway but couldn't make it out as it was helmeted. The helmet itself looked weird; it was black with a red looking visor where eyes should normally be. "Who are these guys?" Three figures came into view, all wore the same uniform which was covered head to toe in black, and they wore belts with odd looking instruments on them and carried a sleek looking rifle. One more figure finally stepped in through the doorway with a strange looking insignia pinned to his chest. Instead of a rifle he had a strange looking handgun that had a glowing blue crystal on what looked to be a magazine. He saw similar features on the rifles too. He was taller than the rest and walked like he carried authority with him. He felt this was one of the men in charge.

He looked to the other three and muttered something he couldn't make out. Daniel cringed as the guy raised his handgun and saw a flash of blue light. He saw it three more times and felt heat where the blasts were. As he dodged to the side of the cage to avoid it, it was apparent that he was not aiming directly at him. His vision cleared and noticed the bars to the cage were lying on the floor partially melted in some areas. The tall man studied him when he felt strong hands grab him to lift him to his feet. He stared the tall man into the reddish visor he had. The man moved his hand up to the helmet and began to lift it off. He knew now these guys weren't Colonial or another Cylon faction rumored to exist.

What he saw next stunned him. The man removed his black helmet along with the other figures in the room. The tall man's dark hair came out and he looked into his eyes and noticed with intense shock they weren't human. They had slits that looked like cat eyes and they all had ridges on their foreheads and pointed ears. He knew they were aliens, there was no other explanation. The tall man suddenly smiled as he pulled out a rod like object, and everything went to black again.

Four Years later G9/21349- Battlestar Mercury, in the Haracess System

Commander James Keller jogged on the treadmill in the Officer's Gym. He decided to use some free time to exercise and get ready for the Physical Aptitude test scheduled for next month. Some of the crew went over to the Surveyor Hub to check out the science exhibits and logs of interesting interstellar phenomenon. He was ordered to come to this system to help with a mission the Surveyors and he would be getting more information once he arrived. The door slid open behind him and he noticed an older dark haired man in the mirror it was his XO, Colonel Allen Bell.

"Come back with our mission?" He asked him, slowing down the treadmill and taking the papers from Colonel Bell.

"Yeah, the Colonial Surveyors are interested in looking at a system thirty lightyears from here; a couple scouts from General Space found Tylium deposits in an asteroid field orbiting one of the gas giants. The Surveyors want to scan the area and map the whole system. I guess we are supposed to be their security; the system is well outside the cluster and well into neutral space. We don't know what's out there."

"Your right on that there, not too many people goes outside the cluster except for the occasional exploratory mission. Only a few military, science and mining posts, how long until our crew comes back?"

"They will be back in a few hours." Colonel Bell said looking at his watch. "The Surveyor ships are prepping FTL and sensor systems and will be ready in the same amount of time. We can leave in 6 hours for the system, and we will be there for a few weeks while the Surveyors look at each planet."

"Good, we can conduct flight testing while we're here. Have the CAG put together a flight training plan. Let's give our pilots some space time, especially the newer ones we just got out of the Academy."

"Ill let the CAG know. I have a meeting with him and some senior pilots about escort lists." Colonel Bell said taking the papers back from Commander Keller. "I'll see you in the CIC by 1700." He said as he left to meet with the CAG and senior pilots."

Commander Keller stopped the treadmill and walked to his quarters. He turned at a corridor and saw a group of Marines jogging down the corridors getting some exercise. Some civilians and technicians were looking at electric panels and doing daily maintenance to get ready jump over to the system. He had reached his quarters and shut the door. The walls were adorned with medals, awards and certificates from his time serving in the Colonial Forces. Glass cases contained old fashioned swords and guns from the old Colonization Era when Caprican sailors were exploring the large seas between continents.

He looked at some paperwork he was doing. There were orders four months from now to patrol the Amphios System for any scavenger or illegal merchant activity. There were papers recommending promotion for some pilots and crew members and an Article 26 statement for a crew member who tested positive for Hemphalla, a highly potent illegal drug. He would hate to think that there was drug running going on in his ship but all 1536 people got tested for illegal substances and very few even tested positive so his ship and crew was in excellent operating status. His crew was rated as one of the best in the Colonial Fleet scoring in the 90s on accuracy tests and weapons qualifications.

The Mercury was a good ship, the first of her class that was constructed twenty years ago and saw service during the anti-pirate activity and took part in actions against the Sons of Ares hijacking of the Alvas freighter which had a shipment of nuclear materials which could be used to create nukes. Terrorist and militia groups have smuggled and made nuclear weapons before and used them on civilian targets, attacks have been rare only one incident in 30 years when the same group detonated a weapon on a civilian transport which had members of a rival group. The Colonial Forces jumped on them and detained many members effectively shutting down the group.

He sorted through the papers and organized them before getting up to put on his duty uniform. When he got done he left and shut the door to head over to the CIC. People soon began to walk over to their stations and get ready for the FTL jump. He approached the glass doors of the CIC and stood near the table where the Tactical Officer, Lt. Herman Maysey and Communications Officer Lt. Caroline Bowlee. They continued working and communicating with other ships and the station while Commander Keller stood at the table waiting patiently for his executive officer.

"Whats our status Mr. Maysey?"

"Sir our maintanence teams are finished working on everything. The Surveyors are prepped and ready, and it has been reported that most of the crew is onboard. Just a few officers there gathering up paperwork and finishing meetings."

"Great, let me know once they get back on board so we can start separating from the station. Once Colonel Bell gets back here we can do the rest. Are the Raptors ready?"

"Yes sir, all additional sensor equipment was installed yesterday."

Before he could say anything else, Colonel Bell walked through the open doors to the CIC. For this mission, the Mercury carried more civilians then normal as not only were the Colonial Surveyors here, but several members of the Colonial Science Directorate were also here to help study and observe any stellar activity.

"Pilots are in their ready rooms getting their briefings. Tomorrow we will be setting up some training flights for the nuggets. Are we about ready?"

"Yeah, we have a few of the crew on the station finishing up meetings. They should be back soon."

"That officers-enlisted Pyramid game still going on for next week?"

"Oh yeah, we need other ways to kick their ass then PTing them to death." Commander Keller said jokingly. They both laughed while some of the other officers were operating other systems.

"Commander, all crew and civilians are onboard."

"Good, let's begin separation sequence."

The Mercury sent a wireless command for the automatic docking clamps to disengage, the airlock doors retracted back into the station while the Mercury used its ventral thrusters to move away from the station. She gave a few burns on the main engine to move away further too safely conduct an FTL jump without harming the station. The two long tubular ships with large domes at the ends moved alongside the Mercury.

"FTL coordinates are plotted, emergency FTL coordinates have been sent to the Surveyors. We can jump now at your mark."

"Jump." Commander Keller said. In an instant, a bright flash of light surrounded both ships as they winked out of the space surrounding the Surveyor Hub Station. Space warped and distorted as all three ships appeared in flashes of light in far orbit around a gas giant in system that had the Colonial designation of YJ-2115.

"Jump complete we're here. All systems read green, conducting DRADIS scans." Lt. Maysey said looking at the screens. He heard a beep on the console next to him which told him it was an unknown contact. "Commander DRADIS has detected an unknown radiation signature near one of the moons by the gas giant. It is faint and some of the radiation has an unusual signature."

"Define 'unusual' Lieutenant."

"Sir the radiation signature looks similar to a nuclear reactor leak, its faint which tells me it's been leaking for a long time and is losing the last of its materials."

"Nuclear reactor technology has been pretty much diminished with Tylium reactors now, only a few small civilian ships and satellites even use nuclear reactors and none even come close to this area."

"Is there any indication that it's a ship?"

"To small to be a manned vessel sir, it's probably a probe or a satellite. I linked up with the Surveyor's data."

"How come the scouting Raptors didn't detect this?"

"Their sensor equipment must have confused it with local radiation bands. They only did a scouting run, nothing serious like we're doing. Should we send out a Raptor?"

"Yeah, have it accompany Surveyor that's heading to the general area. Have a Viper squadron escort them there."

"Aye sir, Raptor team is on their way." Lt. Maysey said. All of a sudden he heard a louder beep coming from the console accompanied by three pings on the DRADIS screen which flared out the words 'unknown event.' "Commander, DRADIS has just detected three energy spikes, transferring video feed to you now; I have never seen anything like this." He then said. Everyone could tell he had excitement in his voice.

"What the frak is that?" Colonel Bell asked watching the video feed. It showed three bright blue vortexes several hundred thousand kilometers out, the camera zoomed in and showed several more contacts. He watched intensely as he noticed objects leaving the vortexes. He could see them more clearly. The largest one he saw first and it was shaped like a beetle, with a yellow painted hull with black stripes. Protrusions stuck out which looked like bony spikes and he could see what clearly looked like weapons ports. All of the CIC stared in shock at what they were looking at.

"Do we have any positive ID on the contacts?" Colonel Bell yelled. He saw on the console that the radiation signatures were extremely different than the odd contact that was near the gas giant, and these guys were nowhere close to the planet or any of its moons. "Is there any indication they could be Cylon?" Colonel Bell then asked, as encounters with Cylons were always a possibility."

"No sir, hull patterns do not conform even similarly to Cylon or Colonial hull design."

"Aliens?" Commander Keller asked, he knew himself alien contact was always a possibility but nothing other than animals and plants have been catalogued on other habitable worlds. No sentient or intelligent life was ever found.

"Most likely sir." Lt. Maysey said in a colder voice. He wished now some class would give regulations into the possibility of alien contact like this. He remembered there were some old Colonial regulations that had that possibility, but none were taken seriously and were all forgotten in memory.

"We don't even have a contingency plan for dealing with this." Colonel Bell whispered to Commander Keller.

"Well I guess we just have to create our own plan then. What the status of the ships?"

"Sir, twenty ships have come out of those vortexes and are holding position. I am getting some sensor pings. It's likely they see us like we see them sir. Smaller ships have been launched from the larger ones and are taking position."

"They must have some alert fighters out like we do. Launch alert Vipers, have them form up around the Surveyors; tell them to keep their FTL drives spooled up in case anything happens." Colonel Bell said.

"Lt. Bowlee, I want you to open a channel, all frequencies and bands as well as digital transmissions. Do this carefully, this is the Colonial vessel Mercury to unknown ships, we are on a peaceful exploration mission and desire to make contact. Can you understand us" Commander Keller said. She typed the message on her keyboard and sent it out along with the voice transmission. She kept it on repeat for a short period of time in hopes the aliens would probably get enough data to understand it.

"What are they doing now?" Colonel Bell asked

"They are still holding position. No response from the ships."

"Are the Surveyors seeing anything?"

"No sir, they have nothing….." Lt. Maysey's words were cut off as all of a sudden the ship rocked violently. Some cables and panels fell down from the impact. "Sir, they just fired some sort of energy weapon targeting our engines. FTL is offline, damage teams are heading toward other damaged areas of the ship. They are launching missiles."

"Set Condition One now! Launch all of our Vipers and Raptors. Tell the Surveyors to fraking jump to emergency coordinates and to the nearest outpost."

"Why the frak are they doing this?" Colonel Bell asked.

"Gods only know, we need to get the civilians off the ship. How many of our shuttles have FTL?" Commander Keller yelled over the alarms and klaxons.

"Four of them. We just got them yesterday after leaving Gemenon Spaceport." Colonel Bell said. The Colonial Fleet managed to produce a variety of shuttle equipped with an FTL Drive for emergency use only. Now he though, was the time to use them.

"Surveyors have jumped away." Lt. Maysey said as the ship shuddered from missile impacts. "Hull integrity is still holding, fighters and other contacts are inbound!"

"Start evacuation procedures for non-essential personnel; get them to the shuttles and Raptors. Have them go to the same FTL coordinates as the Surveyors." He pushed a series of buttons on the command console and a black box shaped object popped out. Colonel Bell knew it was a black box which had a hard drive that had copies of all sensor, video, and wireless data up to this point. This was a countermeasure in case the Battlestar or any ship was to be evacuated or about to be lost. The only times it was used was from serious FTL malfunctions, a meteor strike, and one was a case of sabotage by a rouge militant group. "Take this, they're going to try to take the ship. Ill detonate the nuclear stores to make sure it doesn't happen. Go get them out of here!" He yelled as wires and cables fell from the celings as the Mercury was getting pounded by the continuous fire of plasma and particle beams.

Outside, the Mercury fought valiantly. Her main batteries scored some hits on the smaller alien ships ripping gaping burning holes in their armor and exposing sections to space before they exploded or broke apart. Flak rounds took care of incoming missiles. The ship shuddered again under another missile impact that got through. Several of the Vipers were engaging the alien fighters, the space around them filling with cannon and plasma bolts. Debris hung around and drifted from destroyed alien and Colonial fighters. In just a short period of time, Raptors flew out of both flightpods and disappeared in the bright light as their FTL drives activated. The Mercury turned to face her still active batteries against the larger motherships.

Smaller triangle shaped craft soon launhed from the alien ships through the continuing flak and coilgun fire. As they neared their target they maneuvered into locations where most point defenses and weapons were disabled. The sleek winged alien fighters continued to destroy weapons along the Mercury. Pieces of railgun and coilgun littered the area around the hulking Battlestar as she slowly drifted and turned on her axis.

"Commander all of the shuttles and Raptors have FTLed." Lt. Maysey yelled putting his sidearm right on the console. "Sir! We have just detected smaller ships latching onto us. We're being boarded." He yelled again, Commander Keller could feel the intense fear in his voice as he knew the end was coming close.

"Send in Marines to repel the boarders." Commander Keller yelled. Three Marines in the CIC went to the glass doors to protect the entrance from attack. He heard the distant rumbling of explosions and gunfire; he knew the Marines would do their best no matter what the cost. He heard a louder explosion nearby that told him someone threw a grenade. "Let's see how you fraking aliens deal with the Marines." He whispered under his breath.

Closer they echoed, he heard the clanking of boots and the whizzing noises. The whizzing noises sounded strange, it sounded like the cross of something speeding through air and something hot searing the air at the same time. He pushed a button on his console that patched him through to the rest of the ship. "Attention crew and pilots, this is your Commander speaking. Although this is not something we are expected to survive I would like to thank you for your years of service. I know for one our sacrifice will not be in vain and the Colonies of Kobol will forever stand victorious even in the new face of darkness that we have witnessed today. It has been an honor serving with you all. So say we all." He finally said as he saw the bright flashes of light outside the glass doors. The Marines standing guard fired back and he heard the sounds of bodies dropping. A bolt of energy struck a Marine as he fell to the floor. The Marines were firing in both directions down the halls and threw grenades which exploded in fury. Another white energy bolt flew past a marine and burned into the metal plating beside him. Two more bolts struck him at the same time and he fell.

Lt. Maysey grabbed his sidearm and pointed it to the glass doors. He fired when he saw a black figure wearing a strange looking facemask. He got lucky and shot him right through the head, red blood was soon pouring on the floor. The alien had a yellow patch on his chest with a black claw on it pointed upward. He fired at another alien and struck him in the leg and fired another shot in his chest. Lt. Bowlee fired two rounds at an alien that managed to fire an energy bolt in her direction, narrowly missing her head. The alien fell and twitched on the ground before stopping altogether.

Commander Keller stood by the nuclear weapons panel ready to turn the key that would arm and detonate the weapons. He knew now the alien ships were closer and that debris from the Battlestar would severely damage the surrounding ships. He pointed his sidearm and fired it at the next alien to step through the bullet slicing through his throat. He gurgled and flailed his legs about as he slowly bled to death. He watched in anger as Lt. Maysey was struck by two energy bolts simultaneously, falling to the floor in a heap. He knew from the lack of rocking on the ship that the aliens have stopped firing on her. "Could this be why the Cylons have not been heard from in thirty-eight years?" He asked himself as Lt. Bowlee managed to kill the alien that slaughtered Lt. Maysey. She got struck by an energy bolt that burned through her brain dropping her like a rock. He soon heard shouting in their language. More aliens entered and pointed their rifles at him. One entered and Commander Keller got a good look at him. The short alien didn't have a mask on and wore a uniform that told Commander Keller he was an officer or high ranking NCO. The alien had feline features with ridges on the forehead and pointed ears and very catlike eyes. That was the only look he needed.

"Frak you all to hell!" He yelled as he turned the key.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The space around Hisnera, the grey clouded Caprica sized world that orbited the Haracess system was disturbed by the spatial distortions as many ships FTLed into orbit around the planet. Eight Raptors accompanied the two Surveyors, fifteen FTL shuttles and transmitted a distress signal to the fleet of Colonial Firestar Group that was doing training missions in the area.

Colonel Bell had ordered the fleet to jump to the Haracess system after they got accountability of all shuttles and evacuated personnel; he had seen the Firestar Group performing simulated attack runs with training lasers and live bombing runs on asteroids and small planetoids. He ordered Lt. Mathis, another communications officer recently assigned to the Mercury to transmit the distress code, it would take a couple hours for the fleet and the Surveyor Hub to receive it so he just waited there and made sure all medical teams were attending to the wounded.

Allen prayed Apollo that the aliens whom attacked them earlier wouldn't follow them. He knew Commander Keller would fight to the death and would detonate the nuclear stores rather than lose the ship to enemy hands. He saw from initial reports the Mercury's armor stood well against some of the energy weapons except for the lasers and particle beams that struck the engines first. "But why would they attack though?" He had asked himself again; wiping sweat off his forehead. The aliens were obviously technologically advanced, he had feared the worst, the Cylons already knew everything there was about the Colonies, and maybe the aliens got some Cylons and decided to probe the Colonies after beating the Cylons into submission.

He brought himself to his feet and looked out the window of the Raptor. He could see a dark moon pocketed with large craters and mountains; the moon had some resources of interest to Colonial mining corporations such as General Space and StellerMine, however none had yet to get the contracts to start mining operations. There was an asteroid belt around the last gas giant which had notable piles of Tylium ore on them, all contracts were currently in process. It wouldn't be long before major companies turned it into a mining colony.

A long hour later several more flashes of light appeared in the distance. Colonial transponders flickered on the DRADIS screens in the Raptor and he instantly knew it was the fleet. A large dark grey ship loomed closer with a larger and taller alligator head, two pods on the side which were not the standard Colonial flight pods but were larger and angled to provide good firing solutions from her side batteries. They were the Firestar Class Heavy Cruisers, one of the heaviest hitters in the Colonial Fleet. They had a squadron of Vipers in a flight pod hidden in the underbelly of the ship along with Raptors and a couple shuttles. The Colonial Forces designed her as another Battlestar Escort similar to the Berserk Escort but filled the Heavy Cruiser role as part of new Colonial Space Warfare Doctrine dictated by the Admiralty and the Secretary of War for fears of an another Cylon attack since they have not been heard from in so long.

"Colonel Bell this is Mistra Actual, we received your distress signal, we are dispatching shuttles and medical ships to pick up wounded. You are authorized to come aboard." He heard a young male voice say over the wireless. He knew it had to be Commander Rylee, they participated in Operation Burning Star held annually at Ragnor Training and Bombardment range in the Oort Cloud of the system, where one fleet posed as a Colonial Fleet and another posed as a "Cylon" Fleet and did attack runs and trials. He remembered him from being in the "Enemy" fleet and later worked with him on training gun crews in the Bombardment Range.

"Roger that Mistra, preparing to dock." Colonel Bell replied over the wireless. He had the pilots guide the Raptor to a docking port on the large ship; it was only three-quarters the size of a Columbia Class Battlestar but still packed quite a punch. He carried the black box with him which would also contain jump coordinates for the system in question. A docking port stretched out to the Raptors docking doors and he heard the sound of it clamping. Air rushed in to pressurize the airlock and he saw the door open. He walked out with Lt. Mathey, the Raptor pilot who managed to record some of the battle of video before they jumped.

The Colonel walked though the airlock and the other sides opened reveal a corridor into one hallway of the Mistra. It looked similar to a Battlestar corridor, dark grey with lights on top of the walls. Standing near the airlock was a slightly taller man who looked fairly young with dark hair and eyes that showed confidence and authority. The Colonial Commanders pins shined brightly in the lights overhead.

"What the hell happened out there Colonel?" Commander Rylee asked him as he took the black box from Colonel Bell.

"We were frakking attacked. We detected an energy spike unlike anything we ever seen, it was no damn FTL signature, and it didn't match anything in Colonial records. Ships came out; we tried to make peaceful contact they fired on the Mercury disabling her FTL drive. The Surveyors jumped out of there quickly as possible. We don't know whos ships they were and they definitely weren't Cylons." Colonel Bell said, still in a partial state of disbelief over what happened

"You mean they were attack by something of neither Colonial nor Cylon origin? You mean to tell me you guys were attacked by frakking aliens?"

"I don't know what attacked us Commander, one of the last Raptors to leave managed to pick up the transmission that they were being boarded and they used some strange energy weapons. Some kind of particle beam hit the engines and disabled our FTL drives. Commander Keller ordered me to evacuate the ship and all non-essential personnel; I got over 800 people off the ship. He wouldn't let them take the ship so he decided blow it up instead of letting them have it." Colonel Bell told him knowing the Commander and most other Commanders would never let their ship be taken by an unknown enemy force, ever.

"We will check it out Colonel." He said before entering the CIC. Colonel Bell looked around the CIC, it was slightly more furbished than a Mercury Class, more computer monitors were up and there was a clear entrance into the weapons control room. On a large table monitors showed DRADIS readings, weapons stats, and other general ship information. A shipwide telephone intercom was also visible. "I would have probably done the same thing Colonel; you've done the right thing." Commander Rylee said softly believing Colonel Bell would probably be considered a hero back at home. "Mister Kenson, use the data from the Mercury's last known position to input new FTL coordinates. Tell the Delphis, Amarius and the other Bezerks to escort the other shuttles and Raptors back to the Surveyor Hub. Prepare the other Raptors to pick up further survivors and wounded once we jump to the site. Set Condition One throughout the fleet." The Commander said as alarms blared throughout the ship and Mr. Kenson repeated the shipwide message to the rest of the fleet. "Mr. Kenson, get ready to jump on my mark….. Jump!"

With that, ten ships in all disappeared in a bright flash of light…

…and appeared almost exactly a hundred thousand kilometers from the battle. Both Colonel Bell and Commander Rylee looked at the DRADIS screens on the table and noticed several blips, with a message stating they were mere debris of varying sizes.

"Commander I am picking up multiple debris, some is matching Colonial hulls, marked with radiation consistent with nuclear destruction. I'm also picking up traces of very unusual radiation patterns too. There is nothing like it on Colonial records, some of the hulls from initial photographic analysis also don't match anything on record or even resemble anything close to Colonial or Cylon hull design." The older Tactical Officer said

"So they're aliens?" He asked himself. "Mister Kenson, send a ship to alert the nearest Fleet Base. Have them inform the Admiralty of the situation as well, we will need ships to pick up the debris that way Fleet scientists can find out what's going on. Whatever Battlestar Group is there send them here. We're gonna need it."

"Sir, I am also picking up faint Colonial transponders. At least several pilots are still out there, I am dispatching Raptors to pick them up." Kenson told him reading off of his monitors and their locations. "I have dispatched a Raptor over to the nearest base. Hopefully we can get a Battlestar Group here shortly in case anyone decides to come back."

"Good, is there any signs of life in the Mercury's remains?"

"Negative Sir, all life would have been fried by the radiation. The pilots are all that's left. I pick up at least seven different Colonial Transponder signals. According to them all pilots are still alive but some have vital signs lowered. We're taking them to the medical ships."

"How about signs of life on the other remains, those of the ships we can't identify?"

"Our Raptors will be better able to pick those up. They have all the pilots. Some are starting to examine the alien debris already and are collecting small pieces and bodies they found floating near the debris."

"Keep me notified on anything else happening; have all the black boxes on the Vipers brought onboard too." He told Mister Kenson. He acknowledged his request and continued collecting the information and passing orders on to the various Raptor crews.

Tense minutes passed as the crew felt that a battle was soon upon them. Viper Patrols continued scouting the area doing DRADIS sweeps in case anything else decided to show up. The pilots reported back views of strange looking smaller ships floating around partially destroyed that were sleek and looked like darts in a manner with wings and engines attached. Bony looking spikes protruded on the hulls giving it the appearance and feel of a predator. They all knew this would not go well in the Colonies to know a threat existed that were worse than Cylons.

Several beeps sounded on Kenson's computer and quickly showed the IFF signal of Colonial Transponders. He knew it was the Battlestar Castella. He relayed the communication of the Castella over to Commander Rylee

"Put her through." He ordered the Tactical Officer. He was finally thankful to have some more assistance here.

"This is Commander Reylia to Firestar Mistra, we received your distress and are beginning operations of searching for other survivors in some of the debris as well as pilots. What the hell happened here?" The strong authorative female voice had asked over the wireless.

"The Mercury was attacked by unknown forces; I have Colonel Bell here and have looked at a black box copy of all events that transpired. You and your XO should come onboard; you might want to see this. Contrary to what you may think, the attacking forces were NOT Cylon." Commander Rylee had said back to her.

There was a long period of tense silence as Commander Alisha Reylia listened to those words. Alisha's mother served in the First Cylon War and the Helios War that preceded it. Her Tactical Officer, Lt. Lisa Garenay told her some of the debris did not match anything on either Colonial or Cylon hull records, salvage ships were on their way to haul back some of the debris after being searched for survivors.

"Has a ship been dispatched to alert the Admiralty?" She asked him.

"Yes Sir, the Hyae just left moments ago. They should be on their way to Virginis Station and will prepare transport of the pilots and some of the debris there. Salvage ships will probably take the rest to Helios for study."

"Great, let me know when Colonial survivors have been brought onboard. Have Colonel Bell report to me soon as possible with all the data he has. The Admiralty will be having an uproar over this I know for sure.

Caprica City, Caprica A few hours later

President Richard Adar sat at his desk in a private office across from Laura Roslin; she drank a glass of water before continuing their conversation about educational affairs and the Teacher's Strike happening in areas across Caprica. Two months ago the new Teachers United Union of Caprica (TUUC) elected George Zarek as the union president and everything soon went to hell in a handbasket. He was like his nephew Tom Zarek, too liberal and dangerous for any business especially a teacher's union. Before when other union leaders had control, the teachers were generally cooperative and reasoned will with change. Now, George Zarek demanded more pay for the teachers and allegedly manipulated minor incidents into major ones to infuriate teachers and other faculty alike.

As he was about to read another report to her, a man in a dark suit entered the room. He was accompanied by another man in a Colonial Fleet Admiral's uniform. The suited man had slightly grey hair with a wrinkled neck which told her he was pretty well aged. She quickly recognized him as Samuel Hardson, Secretary of War. The Admiral was Fleet Admiral Peter Corman, Admiral of the Fleet. Samuel approached the President put a hand over his ear and whispered something to him Laura couldn't make out. Adar's face soon looked strained as he got off his chair.

"Laura I will have to do this meeting another time, I'll see you tomorrow." The look on his face was now of total shock. She knew something bad has to have happened if the Secretary of War and the Admiral of the Fleet pulled him out of a meeting. He walked quickly with them to the exit and went out the door. Adar knew Laura would be at the Chancellor Hotel in her Luxury Suite waiting on him tomorrow. They walked out of the Presidential Building and into a Limo. Adar felt absolutely stunned by what his Secretary had told him, the Mercury; the first warship of a great class of Battlestars was destroyed.

"Mr. President, Admiral Haseling is at Virganis Station is compiling reports from the Mistra and Battlestar Castella, according to them and the Black Box recordings the Mercury was escorting two Colonial Surveyors until they encountered a strange phenomenon and ships that didn't match anything in our records, and they certainly weren't Cylon or anything we have ever seen before." Samuel said to him once they were inside the Limo. Adar went silent upon hearing those words. When he first learned of the Mercury's destruction the Cylons were the first to come to mind. They have been silent for the past thirty-eight years, so it would make sense for them to be building up forces for an attack. He always had the Colonial Forces prepared for such an attack at anytime, even contingencies in case of Cylon infiltration since past administrations have known of Adama's and a few others witnessing the Cylons performing experiments on humans, trying to become human themselves. A captured Cylon Basestar toward the end of the war showed a couple disgusting machine-human interfaces and abominations as the result of those experiments. He would never forget that report.

"Are you telling me that aliens attacked the Mercury?" Adar asked, his heart beating slower at the thought. Colonial scientists figured intelligent life existed elsewhere, just nowhere near Colonial space, many alien plants and animals were catalogued from other worlds within the Cluster but none were intelligent. Many in the military didn't even consider much in the way of alien contact and not even the barest contingency plan was in place for that. CFMC and Fleet Admirals had more in the way of preparing for Cylon invasions than aliens. Alien invasions were more of the choice for movies and books than actual military plans.

"It looks that way sir; salvage ships are taking the debris to Ragnor Research and Development labs for examination. Five pilots have been rescued and their black boxes are confirming the Mercury's, the Admiralty has called an emergency meeting, Gauis Baltar is heading to Ragnor as well to examine the debris. There is something else sir; take a look at this." Samuel handed him a file with a photo attached. It read out an initial report by a Colonial Fleet Scientist on the Battlestar Castella, he stared at the photo studying its characteristics. It was an object next to a small rocky moon pocketed with craters and visible ice patches. The object looked like an old exploration era communications satellite. It had grey metallic coating with two towers extending from opposite ends from a cylinder shaped object in the middle. Solar panels extended from the ends and the middle as well but one of the middle ones looked heavily damaged as well as the cylinder itself. Another photo showed a close up with strangely familiar writing on it. He knew in the back of his mind what it was; old Kobolian script.

"Is that what I think it is?" Sameul Hardson asked upon seeing the photo and noticing the script. He saw similar script during the classes on Ancient History, he did believe that Kobol was a real place somewhere everyone that got the funding to find it disappeared or were destroyed in other systems by scavengers, crime syndicates, or other rouge elements of Colonial Society. The Fleet and Colonial Police & Guard Forces usually patrolled and kept watch over those groups so they really didn't even pose a threat to society at large.

"Send that to Doctor Baltar's lab. Have his scientists examine each and every single inch of that artifact. If it's in any way connected to those aliens, I want to know firsthand. Does the news media know of the Mercury's destruction?" Adar had asked. He knew the media would be all over any reports over the destruction of a Colonial Warship; especially a Battlestar.

"Not yet sir, we're keeping everything under wraps until we can get the survivors back and some of the debris salvaged. After we have everything under control we can notify the families of those deceased." Admiral Corman replied to him. It had been standard protocol to notify families when it is known the people killed in action, accident or though other cause were actually investigated enough to let them know. Since all reports were being compiled, he knew the families would be notified soon as well as the cuase.

"That's a better idea; send out a Fleetwide notice for any media inquiries to be answered accordingly as we get more information. We don't need our homeworlds and outlaying colonies going into a panic over a 'possible' Cylon invasion when the reality of an alien invasion could be even worse. I'm putting all Colonial Forces on FORCON 2. Tell the media that all forces are on alert due to possible attack that may or may not be Cylon. No more, no less. I do not need people panicking over anything else right now." Adar ordered. He knew this could be something that may not do well for a re-election campaign a couple years from now. He wanted to do his job and to lead Colonial society forward in case this was something big and could lead to a war.

"Yes Sir, Scoutstars have looked at ten systems outside the Cryannus Cluster and so far nothing yet. They will be looking at more systems to go before they are to report back to the Castella." Admiral Corman said. Corman right now had read some of the initial reports and reviewed them with other Admirals. This was the first time in thirty-eight years a Colonial Warship was destroyed in enemy action, it would not go over well with the rest of the Fleet.

"Any reports from our outlaying outposts"

"None at all Sir, all is quiet there. Nothing on the Cylon border as usual; the Mercury was far away from the Cylon Armistice Line and even in that area no Cylon vessels have been spotted. They have been completely silent." Admiral Corman said to the President. He listened to those words carefully and considered them. "Are the Cylons trying to draw forces out by using a fake alien invasion?" He thought in his head but the idea sounded too ridiculous to him. They were a race of robots; they could build more of their own and have automated ship factories as seen during the First Cylon War. It would not take much to out-produce the Colonies if your whole race is nothing but machines.

"Now where are we going?" He had asked, he had done this before to avoid assassination attempts by terrorists and once by a member of the teachers union looking to blow a transport liner up to make a point, but nothing like this. Everything was serious now.

"We're taking a special Military flight to Virgon, where pieces of debris, bodies, and one of the survivors are being taken. They should arrive there shortly before we get there." Samuel Hardson told him. In some cases he knew it would be a better idea to take a military escorted flight rather than Colonial One, that way the FTL drives could quickly engage and go to other coordinates. He sent a text message to Laura saying he probably won't be back on Caprica for a while and to check out of the hotel for him. He would tell her the business later on.

The Limo had pulled into an 'Official Business' only area of Caprica City Air and Space Port. A large oval shapes ship was waiting that had two smaller Strikestars on large landing pads. Strikestars were the largest ships that could land and take off, they were designed primarily as escorts for convoys and supply ships as well as military officials going from colony to colony. All the ships would take off and make an FTL jump higher up in the atmosphere. Such occurrences were common as many ships had FTL capability. President Adar got out of the limo as a security detail walked with him toward the waiting craft. Colonial Office Security stood and patrolled positions around the perimeter ensuring no one would attempt to harm the President or his staff. The last presidential assassination occurred over thirty years ago when a member of the Ha'la'Tha assassinated President Gerry Thomias after he was known to be supported by a rival mob, the Vasaltha, named after a Virgon drug dealer who really became big and formed his own drug ring and mafia. That assassination caused a major crackdown on the Ha'la'tha and their activities thus dropped off. They were still out there but mostly in hiding staying on the low.

He walked up the stairs and into the craft. It was wide, featuring seats with computer terminals and television. He went to a table in the middle and sat at one of the chairs while other security, Samuel and Peter Corman sat beside him. Two men wearing pilot's uniforms went to the cockpit, saluting as they walked by the President. He returned the salute knowing they had to get to work quickly. He felt the ship vibrate as the engines started burning and the ship lifted off the ground.

"Is there anything else you guys have yet to tell me, even if it's just speculation?"

"There is nothing sir, we do know one of the pilots that is at Virginis Station is recovering well. He is shocked but his black box revealed some data. We haven't looked at it yet but we will once we get there." Peter Corman had finally said.

"Well, I guess we just have to wait and see. Let's hope to the Gods things fall in our favor in the end." Adar told them as the ship exited the atmosphere.

Colonial Forces Flight Training School

:: COLONIAL FORCES AT FORCON 2: A line her most Colonial Forces SECURMAIL came from. She know from regulations that if the Force Conditions escalate, some of the flight instructors would have to be re-assigned to their ships as pilots for the time being. "Absolutely fraking amazing" She thought to herself. Adama would be calling her any minute to have her report to the Galactica under Major Spencer, the ship's CAG. She moved her eyes over the other report, that of trainee Zak Adama. He had failed three critical maneuvers in his last test of the course and knew he could not pass another one. She looked at the wooden door to the officer while she could hear the jet engines of Vipers and Raptors nearby.

She picked up a phone and asked the Flight Barracks Commander to have Zak Adama report to the Flight Instructor's Office. After that she heard a male voice paging over the school-wide intercom for Zak to report to the office. Kara Thrace gathered all of his reports and evaluations and tried to keep the stress of the week off her mind though the event of what is causing the FORCON level to decrease is still bothering her.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the wooden door being opened. A tall guy with slightly dark skin and hair entered, wearing the PF Uniform of the Colonial Forces. "Flight Trainee Zak Adama reporting as ordered Sir." He said softly and smiling, as they both were romantically engaged.

"Close the door and have a seat." She told him, grabbing some of the reports and final evaluations. She handed him the final evaluations first. "Take a look at these." She said, watching his smile degrade slowly into disappointment. "You know what that is already there isn't any need to question it." She said to him with a stern attitude. "You also know that I cannot pass you now, I cannot issue retakes and I certainly will not alter the scores to make it look like you passed. I have to report back to the Galactica, if you read your SECURMAIL today all Colonial Forces are at Force Condition Two which means my ass is going back to Galactica." She told him, trying to push romantic feelings aside. So far the stress of knowing she was going back on that ship was doing that to her but she prepared for it anyway.

"So…. Am I going to be dismissed from the Academy?"

"You should pack your bags; you will be dismissed by the end of next week. I have seen your performance during the months you were here. You told me you had a passion for flying but I don't see it. Other instructors told me the same exact thing, you fly like you have no passion, no real feel for it, and I know you don't. I suggest you look for something different before my ass gets grilled for falsifying official documents which just because I like you a lot, means I am not going to break the rules to push you ahead and get someone or yourself hurt. Is that understood?" She said with even more ferocity as he got out of seat and stood at attention.

"What should I do now? My father and brother had both believed I would pass with flying colors."

"Well, go back to our apartment and think about it this weekend. I know for a fact your smart, and you sure as hell got a lot of skills. They will get you somewhere. This school won't; simple as that. I cannot change it sorry. I'll tell you what though; you are a hell of a better shot on the range than I am, and you're skilled in Haladeo, that will get you a lot more than here." She said as the phone on the wall began to beep. She knew it was Commander Adama. "I need to take this call. You're dismissed." She told him she returned his salute and he quickly walked out the door.

Zak moved quickly toward his quarters reflecting on those words. Anger came to him as he come to terms with reality of what his father wanted him to do. In his mind he knew flying would be a mistake, he wanted to do something with the Colonial Forces and serve with the honor and distinction of being like his father, a soldier but not a pilot.

He came to his quarters finally and looked at the inside. His bunk was freshly made while his desk and drawers were cleared of items. Cadets' rooms do not get inspected as thoroughly as BMT Soldiers. He sat down on his bunk and threw the report away in the trash can. He turned on the TV sifting through some of the news stations and the Colonial Military Network which just went to commercial. Pretty soon, a brown skinned man in a dark suit appeared in front of a large silver-grey skyscraper on Croneas, Gemenon, he knew the place as he visited there before and toured some of the historical landmarks with his uncle.

"Do you feel destined for something greater, are you a complex person, always being able to find out the answer, or solve a problem quickly? Do you have skills you feel are up to really good use but have not found the right employers to use those skills? Well, now you have. Further Colonial Intelligence interests and protect Colonial Security at home and beyond. Join the Colonial Intelligence Division. _Effectcus Quis Vox_, Doing what's right." He said as the scene cut to the large seal of the Colonial Intelligence Division, a large warbird style symbol with arrows and a shield in its talons, with the Effectus Quis Vox statement on the bottom of the seal.

He had an interest in intelligence, but his father's influence told him to become a pilot. His grandfather was a lawyer and his great uncle was an assassin, but taught his skills to his older cousin. He looked through the secure Colonial Forces intranet and found out more information. He decided to look into it further.

Battlestar Galactica- Two hours later

Lt. Kara (Starbuck) Thrace walked down one of the larger corridors of the Galactica, walking quickly toward Commander Adama's quarters. She had met him during an awards ceremony and he subsequently got her stationed on the Galactica where she trained nuggets. A squad of Marines jogged by her in their PFT uniforms with the Colonial Marine Corps emblem on the front. She already knew where her bunk was in the Pilots Rooms, and it remained untouched. She threw her bags in the locker before moving onto the Commander's Quarters. She finally saw the hatch for his quarters and it was closed. She pushed a button to alert Adama that she was there.

"Come in." He said over the speaker. She opened the hatch and came in. His personal quarters were decent, a collection of paintings of old Caprican and Tauron sailing vessels hung on one wall while a glass cabinent help old handguns from the old Desert Wars days of ancient Caprican nations fighting on Alpheus. She presented herself and saluted as part of military courtesy.

"At ease, have a seat and a drink. He said to her in a slightly raspy voice, he was one of the oldest Commanders in the Colonial Forces having served through the First Cylon War and several campaigns against rouge groups later on. He was in his dress uniform undershirt, taking off his dress blues to relax in his office away from the CIC duties which Colonel Tigh was currently handling. He poured her a bottle of Ambrosia special and began to pick up some papers.

"I noticed you failed Zak out of flight school." Adama said smiling a little. "As upset I would be I applaud your decision; he wasn't flying material. I saw it the first time he let the cockpit door slam on his hand." Adama then chuckled.

"I definitely remember the time he tried to land a training Viper on the runway, he dug the landing gear too deep and he ripped them off. He freak out and ejected. Major Ferland saw it and he ripped my ass for an hour, I never seen the guy so mad in my life." She smiled remembering the incident vividly.

"Zak called me up today and told me he's thinking about joining Colonial Intelligence."

"That's a tough agency to work for. Think he can make it?"

"Probably; he has always had a knack for finding shit out he shouldn't be able to find out. He did better on his tests than I back in the day.

"He's a damn good shot too, that's why they had kept him for so long they wanted to see if he could do something else but he stuck with pilot until now."

"He will find something. You know, that's something I tried to get him into before he wanted to fly Vipers. He wanted to try to outperform Lee. They always had this little competition of who could do better." Adama said looking at some files. Kara figured they were orders or something similar. Galactica has only been stuck in the Capricorn system for the past couple decades only for show with civilians and training with new nuggets. She heard a couple of officers at the mutter something about the current Force Condition. "Major Spencer is having a pilots briefing, you should report there, Saul is going to be here in a bit, and I'll let you know the rest of the situation in a few hours. On another note, glad to see you back." He smiled, shaking her hand. She saluted and left closing the hatch behind her.

He took another drink of the Ambrosia and waited. He knew Zak was a bit upset about failing flight school and he was way more upset about it than Adama was. He didn't think Zak could do it, and in his heart he felt it wasn't right to keep him there because of his feelings for Kara. He gathered his papers and organized them to go over them with Saul Tigh.

Soon enough Adama heard a buzz at the door and he told the person to come in. The old visage of Colonel Saul Tigh came in with his blue duty uniform and sat down. "Damn Bill you should see the Commanders at that place; they are going nuts over there when the words got out we're at frakking FORCON 2. I hope you know what's going on."

"I know a lot of whats going on; here take a look at this." Adama said handing a folder that had the word 'CONFIDENTIAL" stamped in red across it. Saul opened it and started to read it. His eyes got wide when he saw the first couple paragraph. "My Gods the Galactica's getting reactivated?"

"Yep, we start tomorrow at the Aphrodite Lunar Fleet Shipyards. The techs will be onboard inspecting all of our systems including FTL so we can make a jump to Virgo system next week. Keep reading it."

"My Gods the Mercury?" He gasped. "Commander Keller? Was it the Cylons?"

"From what I have heard it wasn't Cylon attack, and no terrorist is fraking stupid enough to attack a Battlestar. I talked to Admiral Cain not too long ago; she was a good friend of Commander Keller, he used to serve under her a few years back as XO before she recommended him for promotion and he got it. His first assignment was the Mercury and has been there ever since. He was one of the very few Commanders to get Command of a Mercury Class. He didn't survive but Colonel Bell did, saved over 800 of the crew by evacuating the ship and jumping out of there. The rumor of what has happened is not really being considered a joke, even Admiral Fessler told me it wasn't.

"What's the rumor?"

"They're saying the Mercury was attacked by alien forces outside the Cryannus Cluster. It would make perfect sense for the Admiralty to be up in arms over a new unknown threat. Major Cottle is heading to Virginis Station now where they're taking the bodies and some of the debris. The rest is going over to Helios System now. We won't hear officially for a week or so but Admiral Fessler wants this Battlestar and the rest of her group up and running next week. He's already processing orders for the rest of the ships to be transferred to our command."

"Alien forces; you have to be kidding me Bill. If its Cylons they should be sending people over the Line for Gods sakes."

"The Admiralty wont press that issue. Some outposts on the Line are sending transmissions into Cylon Space but they are not likely to be heard. No responses were given; nothing. Did Admiral Cain say anything else to you?"

"No, she had to leave for an Admiral's meeting in Virgon. Three Battlestar Groups are going to the outer reaches of the Cluster including hers. They're going to reinforce the outpost areas while Scoutstars search some of the systems. First surveys from the Scoutstars found nothing. We're waiting on the rest. The media knows nothing at this point but the news commentators are already starting to speculate. It won't be long before the rumors get out to the public that a top-of-the-line Colonial Warship was destroyed. We need to be in the CIC soon anyway, the techs are about to arrive." Adama said as Tigh finally took another drink before walking out with Adama.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Virginis Station was a major engineering feat early in the history of Virgon. It was built over eighty years ago when the moons around Feramiss were discovered to have a large amount of valuable ores. It was primarily built as a mineral processing facility that got converted into a research facility to conduct experiments and examine the gasses of the large gas giant it orbited. There were several large attachments and modules where experiments could be carried out in zero gravity and artificial gravity. It was also used to study microbial life that thrived in the atmospheres of a couple moons there. After its mission was finished before the First Cylon War the whole station moved to a small cluster of asteroids between Feramis and the blue gas giant world of Saphra.

The station became one of the largest built in history. It was three times as tall as a Mercury class Battlestar with multiple arms extending out that granted the ability for large ships to dock with it. The top and bottom portions were in the shape of a giant pyramid with a cylindrical piece in the center that acted as a hub where the arms were attached and modules. Attached to one of the larger arms was a smaller pyramid structure with a flat top that was used as a docking port for Raptors and shuttles. Colonial Science ships frequently docked with it, and it supplied the Mobile Science Platforms with much needed research materials and tools. Each platform had capability to move independently, detach from the station and use drives to move from one part of the system to another.

During the First Cylon War Virginis Station was converted into a military refueling and rearming point. It saw some action against the Cylon Basestars and Raiders that tried to attack it to disable the Colonial's ability to continue the war. It was one of the few stations that were never crewed by Cylons themselves, only the thinking minds of hundreds of human scientists and workers. Some science stations were used to develop electronic weapons against the Cylon forces some of which proved successful in driving them from the Virgo System altogether. When the war was over it was turned back over to the Colonial Science Directorate but a military presence was there to help with military R&D efforts outside of the Helios Research Labs over in the system of the same name. It shortly became a top secret facility after the war, so the public eye would stay away from the affairs of the station.

Far away, a series of bright flashes of light singled the appearance of Colonial One and her escorts of Colonial Strikestars. President Adar was going to see firsthand everything that had transpired. The media was not going to know for this day where the President was as it was top secret like the facility was. Samuel Hardson knew it would be a while before materials engineers there would determine what the alien materials were. If it was indeed built by an alien civilization and not Cylons he knew the Colonies had some dark time ahead. No media would

Samuel put his jacket back on and got up from the chair and walked over to Adar. He was reclined in the white leather seat trying to relax and laid his glasses on the small table that extended from the chair. He patted him on the shoulder. "We're here Mister President." The Secretary of War said to him. He watched President Adar get his glasses and drink another glass of water before standing to stretch. Adar looked visibly stressed as the words and news of the destruction lodged itself in his mind.

The ship approached a set of hanger bay doors by a large module between the two large pyramid structures which opened upon arrival. The Strikestars docked at a couple military docking ports nearby while a couple Valkyrie Class Battlestars and their respective groups orbited the station for protection. Whenever an elected official arrived here a few military vessels will definitely be present. In this case fears were looming in the military of another Cylon attack as many did not know the extent of the Mercury's destruction. Everyone was ready for an attack at any moment and everyone was on alert for anything unusual.

The hanger bay doors closed and the ships sat down as pressurized air filled up the bay. Escorted by three Official Security escorts, the Secretary of War, and Admiral Peter Corman walked out together and onto the platform where they were met by an older shorter man with the darkened skin complexion of a man from the southern jungles of Scorpia. He wore a white lab coat with a plastic tag on his shoulder that read _**:Dr. Garry Parkson, MD:**_ He introduced himself to the three people the stood wearing their suit jackets and ties while the Admiral still wore his Colonial Officers Dress Uniform. He shook their hands with his wrinkled visible aged hands but still kept the firmness of a man who was business and professional.

"Come, follow me and I'll show you where one of the pilots is currently recovering, he is the first to wake up and was in the best condition when we found him. He knows you three are coming to see him." Dr Parkson said calmly.

"What about the others?" Admiral Corman asked.

"The others have some degree of radiation poisoning. Our medicine is counteracting the effects of the radiation and it will be several weeks before they will be out. Given the severity of the situation I didn't expect that many to live." Garry had said to them.

"Is Colonel Bell here too? I understand he saved the lives of hundreds of his ship along with the Colonial Surveyors. He should be seeing his pilots as well."

"He is in the debriefing room along with some of the Surveyor crews. He will be done shortly.

"I think I'll talk to the Surveyors later today." Admiral Corman said while giving a look at Dr. Parkson as they approached a room. He opened the hatched and they pushed a plastic curtain aside.

"This is Major Quae Leslo, the Air Group Commander of the Mercury." Garry said to the three men. Quae was starting to gain some facial hair as it had been a day since the destruction of the Mercury. President Adar approached first and shook his hand. Samuel and Admiral Corman soon followed suit. They noticed Quae, they figured he was a Tauron by the fact his skin was slightly darker and the fact he had several ancestral tattoos on his front and arms symbolizing his family coat of arms and accomplishments as it was in Tauron culture.

"You did a fine job out there I heard, you, your XO, and your pilots saved countless lives. You should be proud Major." President Adar said smiling, putting emphasis into the fact the Major did his job beyond expectations.

"How many are alive sir?" He asked Adar in a slightly raspy voice.

"Seven pilots are still alive, all are recovering pretty well. You and Colonel Bell have saved over eight-hundred lives. You guys are all heroes." President Adar insinuated to him.

"Commander Keller is the true hero Sir. He sacrificed his ship to save those lives. He wouldn't let the bastards have it. He would rather detonate the nukes and destroy the ship rather than letting it fall in enemy hands be they alien or Cylon. It was really aliens wasn't it? I heard them say over the wireless the borders weren't Cylons but frakking aliens.

"It looks more that way Major." President Adar told him as the others watched with cold looks on their faces. Adar looked down and thought to himself that alien attack was the last thing on his mind. Even contingencies that were designed for alien invasions were often jokes and pranks by officers or staff to get a laugh with most fleet commanders.

Major Leslo let out a light laugh. "I have dreamed since I was a kid of fighting aliens seen in the movies and telefilms. I never knew the reality would even come closer. I guess that the reality is a lot stranger than any fiction I have seen." He said taking a memory from his childhood. He drank a glass of cold water to clear his throat.

"How did the Mercury fight?" Admiral Corman asked the Major.

"She fought like a wild Caprican Sandcat Sir. She took out seven ships before Commander Keller set off the nukes and took out many more. We were kicking their asses pretty bad for being outnumbered. Bastards had it coming. I have a feeling they will be back sir." The Major said with a smile. He was proud of the leadership of his commanding officers. He knew they would watch out for those below them.

"You did a good job out there. We will be reviewing your gun camera footage soon along with others. Hopefully when you're better and up to it you can present to us on their tactics and some of their fighter capabilities from what you seen. I want to know how these frakkers fight in case they come back we can defend ourselves." Admiral Corman replied to Major Leslo.

"When can I go back into the fight sir?"

"When the Docs decide to clear you and after you're debriefing. You have been through a lot, you need your rest. Ill personally make sure you will get a good reassignment Major.

"Thank you Sir."

"No, thank you. You served the Twelve Colonies well." Admiral Corman said, snapping off a salute with President Adar. The Major returned the salute and closed the curtain. It was regular military custom for senior officers and leadership to salute those wounded in combat.

Dr. Garry Parkson pulled out a small pad that kept beeping. It was a touch screen communications pad similar to the touch screen phones many people used back on the Colonies but this was used by military personnel and civilians stationed at the station. "Well it looks like Colonel Bell is done with his debriefing. I notified him you were coming so he would be prepared, he and a few other people will share some of the data we recovered. Hopefully Admiral Corman your expertise will assist him in getting things done.

Vahdor Starbase- High Takalos Orbit

Sha'dur looked outside the viewing port of Vahdor Starbase . Takalos was a world that was discovered a couple years ago inside a nebula the Colonials and their Cylon creations had dubbed the Bluemist Nebula after the bluish hue it gave off. The nebula was thick; it obscured detection of planets orbiting the star. The planet below had only 48% of the land habitable; the rest was just frozen tundra. Slowly experiments were taking place that would make more of it habitable as it was only 25% habitable when the world was first discovered. The system was unusually small too; there were only three rocky planets with a gas giant that orbited well outside the sun. The planets themselves were holding a multitude of research stations and military outposts. It was also a fallback point since the nebula would hide all systems within. It was given the name Takalos after the port city in an inlet which defended itself against all odds by a warring tribe in Thraza so many centuries ago.

"Warmaster, the transport has arrived. Prisoner Das'ren is here." Sha'dur heard a voice in his tiny earpiece say. He had been expecting visitors and was not too happy to see this one. "Good, escort him to my quarters." The Warmaster said calmly. He walked down the corridors of the large bulky and spiny starbase and toward his furbished quarters. He looked on the walls and saw some miniature statues of past Emperors and Warmasters, as well as some of the Dilgar Gods. This starbase was not the only starbase which he held offices in. Around Kobol was a larger starbase which contained his main quarters and the Victory; his flagship.

He waved his hand in front of the bioelectric scanner at the door and it split open to reveal his neatly furbished quarters. A case of old Dilgar weapons sat in a corner while a painting of an old Thraskala bomber from Omelos's Third Great War also hung on the wall. Near a wall was a door to another room which he and several Warmasters could gather and discuss plans. He activated a computer on his desk which would holographically display what he needed to show the prisoner. He heard a small droning beep at the door which showed him the prisoner was here. "Bring him in." He said as he opened the door from his desk and two Dilgar Guards stood there holding a beaten Dilgar before him. He also wore a white and orange prisoner outfit, which would change should his sister find a better fitting for him in her labs. "Drop him." Sha'dur said with cold intent. The guards dropped the prisoner who was tied and shackled; he ripped the tape around his mouth and let him lay on the floor. "Leave!" He told the guards, as they complied diligently and left the room.

"You disgust me." He said to the beaten Dilgar who once wore the uniform of a Battlemaster. The man's face was bloodied and bruised, definitely from beating by guards who had no tolerance for traitors or incompetent fools. The prisoner could barely turn his head to look up at Sha'dur. "Do you realize what you have done; your actions have not only put a large hole in our plans, but delayed our actions for the Colonials for possibly years to come!" He yelled. Sha'dur was visibly angry now, his veins started to appear on his neck and face as his blood pressure rose.

"I wanted to be like you Warmaster. I thought capturing a Battlestar would make me better in the eyes of the Warmasters. I wanted honor….." He said before he was loudly ordered to shut his mouth.

"Honor you say, what you shown me was not honor but cowardice. You are a disgrace to everything Dilgar. How you even got a promotion I will never know, but you will never even see the black of space and starlight again."

"I am sorry Warmaster please give me a second chance." The prisoner pleaded

"You went up against one of their most powerful capital ships, allowed two of their civilian ships to escape with data regarding some of our ships and lost some of our best officers in a cowardly attack. When you finally boarded it, the ships commander decided to destroy it rather than let you take it. That's not a Dilgar tactic, that's the tactic of a coward and a madman. My sister was right when she told me the Imperium would fall not from alien attack but from incompetent officers like you! My sister would have some use for you though so you may have a second chance." He said with a cold smile and look as he approached a console. He pushed a button and spoke for a couple guards to come into the quarters. The doors slid open to reveal two of the same Dilgar guards assigned to the prisoner. "Guards take him to the transport. He is being assigned to my sister's lab. Keep him alive till he reaches Omelos. That is all you may leave." He said as the guards took away the former Battlemaster as he kicked and screamed; knowing the horrible fate that awaited him.

Sha'dur grabbed a bottle of Eslikh, a common Dilgar alcoholic drink on Omelos. He poured himself a glass and pulled out a file with a photo of Battlemaster Val'Shakari, a known Battlemaster who managed to pull off a successful capture of an Earth Alliance Olympus Corvette after they joined the fight. He served under Jha'dur and used a good tactic which helped drive the Earth Alliance forces away during the Battle of Bestine. He was a very honorable Dilgar officer, Sha'dur personally wanted to promote him to Warmaster and lead some of the first offensives against the Colonials. Too bad it was no more. "To you good friend; you served me will." He said as he made a private toast to the now deceased Battlemaster. "You will be remembered."

Sha'dur looked at his papers. Now he had to make arrangements to meet with the other Warmasters at Kobol to decide what to do next. He was interrupted by a chime at the door. "Come in." He said as the doors slid open and a taller, slightly heavier Dilgar female walked through the door. Her name is Yasn'rae, one of the Battlemasters in charge of the Imperial Intelligence Arm's activities in this sector. She also did some of his science work on the side as a favor to Sha'dur as they went to the same Imperial Science and Research Academy on Omelos so many years ago and shared many of the same classes and topics before their paths separated.

"I am glad to see you arrived. How was your time on Kobol?" He looked over directly in her eyes and smiled.

"It was good. I see you had some issues with other officers." She said, noticing the screaming prisoner as she walked through the halls. She never thought anything of it as she seen the labs Jha'dur had. She hated incompetence as much as anyone else.

"Yes, it is a situation I have dealt with. He is being taken care of now. Come, I need your help with this." He told her as they walked to another room. He pushed a touch screen console and the room lit up, and the walls quickly projected holographic images around the two Dilgar. "The wonders of Kobol civilization. It is a shame some of their other great technologies were lost with their death." She said reflecting on the portions of Kobol civilization from what was known after looking through technologies obtained from the homeworld itself and other surrounding star systems. The projection changed to star systems surrounding the Cryannus Cluster, the open resource rich cluster which the Colonials resided. A red line divided parts of the cluster denoting the Armistice Line the separated the Colonies from the Cylons, who have now been reduced to small forces waging guerilla tactics on Dilgar convoys and outposts.

"I do truly wish I could commit more of our Spectres to the Colonies. However most of them are busy in operations against the Earth Alliance and Drazi. We do have a contact in the Colonies who is most useful." Yasn'rae added.

"Who is he?" Sha'dur asked curious about some of the activities the Intelligence Arm was doing now.

"Tom Zarek, he is a known terrorist and anti-government fanatic. He is a major player in the Saggiteron Liberation Front, one of the major terror cells that attack the Colonies at intervals. He wants to help us do a decapitation strike against the government in exchange for allowing the liberation of his homeworld and placement of him into a seat of power."

"Hmmph. That is a good plan. I figure now we can use more resources from the Intelligence Arm than lip service Spectres. I say we utilize this to our fullest potential" Sha'dur said to her. " I am considering now temporally withdrawing forces closest to Colonial space. I know they will send scouts to look in nearby systems, maybe even send a recon vessel over the line just in case. I want all forces within a 100 light year distance from the Colonies recalled. Recall any forces that are ten light years from the Line, this is until we can at least find out that the Colonials wont search for us anymore."

"Do you think they will do that? They will most definitely send an expedition or two in our direction how can you be certain? Withdrawing forces is a good idea, but I know that war with them will be closer and before our plans are in order. Right now we need to devote other intelligence resources until the Earth Alliance signs an armistice which I believe they will." Yasn'rae told Sha'dur sternly. He trusted her advice and took it into consideration, knowing resources were still being devoted fighting the League powers and Earth, but trusted his sister's ability to get an armistice signed with the Earth Alliance.

"I trust your judgment. What would your course of action be?"

"If we run into them, apologize for their ships destruction and keep things clear with them, not too much contact not too less. We can convince them it was a misunderstanding I am sure you can have diplomats to ensure we don't go to war unless we need to. We can keep things from them. Right now we need to be careful here. Our cover is blown, but for now we focus on making sure if we ran into them, we won't start another war. We still are dealing with Cylon remnants and attacks from those Guardian Cylons. Our resources are thin unless your sister brings forces from the League fronts."

"Yes, we are stretched too thin. I do know that my sister is creating bioweapons against the Earth Alliance. They will work on the Colonies too I am sure of it.

"We have a Spectre who will meet with the one in contact with Zarek. He will deliver the weapons and unleash them on one of the Colonies as a test. Zarek will only know about the Spectre he is working with. That way he won't suspect that we are only using him."

"It's a better plan. I will still withdraw forces exploring that area. Have them stationed at our bases and stations a hundred lightyears away from Cryannus. Tell our forces beyond the Armistice Line to other systems away from the Line.

"I will pass on the word. How many ships do you have with Cylon FTL engines?"

"Over two hundred here, a couple hundred more in League space why?" Sha'dur asked her

"The Intelligence Arm is finding a way of implanting a Dilgar mind into a humanform Cylon's body. Hopefully we can find them easier once we have spies in there. There is even more talk of once this technology is secured, we can infiltrate the Earth Alliance more and send in FTL ships to deliver them and leave undetected." Yasn'rae added to him. They both knew that at long ranged FTL jumps were mostly undetectable. The Dilgar had a vast fleet of alien ships to use for intelligence and surveillance purposes.

"I see Intelligence has its smarts in order." Sha'dur said grinning. He believed in the close relationship between the Imperial Intelligence Arm and the Dilgar Imperial Forces. Such close relationships easily benefited the Dilgar as a whole.

Yasn'rae smiled. "It was a hard fight against the Earth Alliance and the Drazi. I wonder what would have happened if we didn't find the wormhole so many decades ago?" She asked, knowing the wormhole that was discovered changed everything and gave the Dilgar quite an edge in its war against the League and later on the Earth Alliance.

"We would have been forced to discontinue our efforts of course. I thought about it before; stopping before we became too large and having to sign an armistice ending the war. Jha'dur I know will do the negations with Earth since Len'char is dead and a corpse won't do well in negotiations. She will do a good job I am certain of it" Sha'dur snickered. He kept it a hidden secret that Jha'dur killed Len'char with a viral compound she examined and recovered in the probe at the nebula the Colonials and Cylons referred to as the Lions Head Nebula. The still living bacteria made for excellent biological weapons. "Come, I will take us back to Kobol for a while. We need to discuss everything with the other Warmasters. My sister should arrive soon as well." Sha'dur added happy that his sister will make a return to the sector.

Virginis Station

Admiral Corman fixed his uniform in one of the restrooms inside the station before heading out to the room where Colonel Bell was sitting at. He covered his face in water in an attempt to relax himself. He knew it wouldn't be long before word of the Mercury's destruction reached the population and they would be demanding answers, especially the families of those lost on that ship. He dried his hands off and went to a small terminal that showed where the conference room was where Colonel Bell was waiting. The computer map showed him where to go and he headed off there.

He passed by the mostly civilian personnel on the station remembering the station was mostly scientific but did have a good military presence onboard for experiments and such. He walked by some of the rooms marked as labs or Doctors Quarters and others marked as conference rooms. He finally saw Colonel Bell in the conference room marked as "Intel. Conf. Room." He knew from seeing this that Force Intelligence Division would also be coming into see him. "Colonel Bell?" He called out his name.

"Admiral Corman, they told me you would show up." He said to him smiling in a professional way, remembering that they worked together on some projects in the past when Corman was a Commander. "How are the pilots doing?" He asked to him.

"The pilots are doing great some are probably going to be discharged soon and debriefed. Others are injured a bit more seriously but recovery is expected." Admiral Corman said to him.

"I guess that's a good thing. Commander Keller was a damn good officer and leader. He would never let the frakkers take the ship. I probably should have stayed behind myself to hold them off."

"Hey Allen, you did what you could. You followed the man's orders and saved over eight hundred lives. It's something I would have done in your spot. As a man from Picon I was told that you can always save others through personal sacrifice or not. If you lived through it then you're as good as a man who gave his life saving others." Corman said. Picon had a history of warfare, mostly naval as it was covered with 80% water. He followed some of the old ethos from where the old nation was where he lived before Picon was unified.

"Its not something I would consider in my career as an officer to meet some damn alien race and have to save us from their hands. Commander Keller would never let the ship fall into enemy hands. At least he made sure the crew put up a hell of a fight. Just like he was going to fight the gods damn Cylons." Allen said. He knew his Commander well, normally he noticed the XO and Commander retained close relationships, such was more beneficial and allowed them to work together more effectively.

"Colonel, if you didn't do what you did I am sure we would be trying to find out what the hell happened to the ships. We will have FID here tomorrow for a debriefing. I know there will be an investigation, but I will make sure personally that it gets done quickly. Your one of the best damn officers I've seen and I need you out there in case we encounter the aliens again. I am counting on you, and I am sure the Colonies will count on you and every one of us in the future." The Admiral finally said to him.

System YD56D7

In the shadow of a large gas giant a flash of light appeared. The ship shut off its engines to let it drift through space silently. The ship flew near the northern pole of the gas giant as ions struck the atmosphere creating the all familiar aurora borealis effect seen on some worlds with atmospheres and the 12 Colonies. As the ship passed in front of a moon with its side lit up by the sun, it formed a shadow, and the ship was a black spec even seen up close. It was a special ship, painted all black and equipped with the best in stealth systems the Colonial Forces could offer. State-of-the-art it was invisible to DRADIS and many other forms of detection. Inside, it activated its silent detection systems. Finely tuned sensors that could detect anything on the level of the Colonial Surveyor ships, and anything as small as a probe; it was a type of Scoutstar, a specialized kind and one of the best in the fleet.

Inside the ship, a hallway bore the nameplate Phemos CS-3212. It was named so after an old Tauron ship that ran through Caprican military lines during the Caprican-Tauron War. It was classified as a scout and a type of Stealthstar at the same time. In the CIC, large computer screens and DRADIS feeds filled the room. It was a small CIC, crewed with only five people while the rest of the crew was only twice the holding capacity of a Raptor.

"Have we got anything yet?" A young dark haired man who bore an all black uniform, no ranks, pins, or other identification asked. He was a Major though, but among his group no one wore any form of identification. His name was Derran Kaans, a dark skinned Tauron native. He was an experienced member of the Colonial Shadow Forces. The elite group of Special Forces consisting of the Marines and Fleet was unified following the unification of the Twelve Colonies. There were many other smaller groups of Special Forces but this was one of the top elite.

"Nothing yet sir, we can continue into the inner system before we have to jump out again. There is nothing here that tells us of any unusual activity." A short female officer said. She also wore the all black uniform with no identifying insignia. Her name was known to the crew as Amy Onsman, a Lieutenant with the Shadow Forces. She manned the tactical station of the ship, working closely with the navigation officer, a tall light skinned Virgon native who the crew knew as Captain Julie Ludek.

"Those frakkers have to have gone somewhere." Major Kaans said. His mission itself was classified; scout the systems coreward of the Cryannus Cluster to find activity that relates to any alien or possible alien presence. Out of all ten systems including this one nothing bore fruit other than comets and an asteroid that bore an old automated outpost that observed a pulsar a few lightyears away.

"We will be passing by the third planet within a few hours. The Mosias will be searching the outer system in an hour, if we find nothing we need to jump back to the Yashuman to refuel." Captain Ludek said. She read some of the readings coming from the planets and moons. The Mosias was known to be the sister ship to the Phemos, having the same general missions and also being from the fabled Shadow Forces.

"I understand I guess we just have to drift and wait." The Major said. He knew that was standard operating procedure to keep stealth. As long as the engines were off and the ship drifted the passive sensors could operate well. FTL drives were always spooled up incase anything happened or the ship was in danger. It used better FTL technology which allowed it to recharge better and use the computers to maximum efficiency thus allowing for further jumps. It was well known that jump distance was based more off of computer processing and efficiency rather than jump power.

The ship was closer in size to a Colonial Shuttle. It was shaped like an alligator head with a couple domes on the dorsal side which used the best equipment available. Most of the surface was flat and covered in hull plating designed to utilize stealth. Even the engines used a cooling method designed to be stealthier. Since it was easy to accelerate a ship of that size to good speed, the ship rarely used its engines. Instead it jumps into space maintaining the same speed it had before it jumped.

Minutes passed as the ship drifted past a couple large asteroids, including a fragment of a moon that looked like it suffered a collision with another similar sized object. They approached a darkened moon which scanners were telling them had a high concentration of water-ice and mineral ores they could process. The planet it orbited they saw had high amounts of Iridium in its atmosphere and had several strange energy readings. Captain Ludek contained the findings and placed them in a data packet to be released to CSD for further study. The planet could not be landed upon as it had a poisonous atmosphere.

"We are approaching our mark, prepping FTL drives." The short female officer said. Major Kaans gave the jump order and the black ship vanished in a flash of light as the wormhole enveloped it. The ship exited some distance away from a Valkyrie Class Battlestar which had the large nameplate of Yashuman on one of the flight pods.

The ship made its way toward the starboard flight pod but instead of going inside it, it docked with a specialized port around the same area designed for smaller type craft. Major Kaans and the crew left the ship and entered the Yashuman. Upon the airlock opening Major Kaans was greeted by a female who bore the Colonial Uniform of an Admiral. She was average in height and had darker skin and slanted eyes and darker hair which told him when they first met she was of Scorpia decent, most likely from the region of Konoma which is known from the heavy and thick jungles that surrounded the area. Most of the people there thus had darker skin.

"Admiral Prichard." He said to her as he snapped off a sharp salute. He knew Admiral Prichard; she was commanding missions past the Cryannus Cluster and coreward toward unexplored and neutral space, even past the Outer Outposts which were mostly science stations and refueling centers for other ships.

"It looks like we're pulling off scouting missions beyond Cryannus. No more missions in this area, but I just received word from the Admiralty of a different assignment. Come; let's head to my conference room to discuss this." She said in a thick accent.

They all walked toward the conference room. The ships walls were considerably darker colored than typical Battlestars. The Valkyrie Battlestars were designed to be mostly stealth and secret ops. Others were designed for specialized attack operations while still being commanded by regular Fleet officer; they had its operations assisting with special forces in and out of Colonial space. They mostly saw operations against piracy, terror groups and rouge tribal groups that used violence to gain independence. They walked past a couple Marines and into a conference room as Admiral Prichard opened the hatch. The room looked more eloquent. There was a wooden table in the room, with leather chairs surrounding it with an overhead projector, and a series of vidscreens embedded into the table and also on the other side of the room.

"Have a seat everyone." She said as she picked up a suitcase full of folders and handed them out to Major Kaans and all other officers there.

"I guess the President and the Admiralty want you to assist in a diplomatic mission. You will be shadowing behind a diplomatic escort into Cylon space in an effort to contact the Cylons and monitor the escort. You will have a temporary assignment to Admiral Haines of the Triton. They will be the backup fleet in case the Cylons become hostile." She said as Major Kaans grimaced.

Major Kaans shook his head. He knew it was a risky venture. No Cylon ever has gone to the Armistice station. He felt the rest of the past administrations used the Armistice station purely for show, instead of trying to show diplomatic initiative and making diplomatic envoys to make peace instead of having it so tense for so long. Fears were still high that the Cylons were planning to strike the Colonies, after building up their forces for so very long but it was mostly rumor. Even still it stuck inside the minds of military leaders.

"Something wrong Major?" Admiral Prichard politely asked noticing the Major's changed facial expression.

"Well I am surprised it took the administration thirty-eight years to realize instead of a lip-service armistice officer they decide to finally send a damn envoy." He asked. It did make some sense to have their ship be an escort; if the diplomatic vessel was destroyed his ship could make a quick jump back to the fleet which would come back and engage the hostiles.

"Sadly we don't write diplomatic policy. We just enforce it sometimes." Admiral Prichard joked. Derran smiled at the comment. "That aside, you will be heading to Picon in a few days to meet with Admiral Haines, he is a good man and knows what the frak he's doing. I worked with him before. I will be seeing you guys back once your term with them has finished. You can head to your quarters for now and much needed rest you're all dismissed." She said as everyone saluted her and left the conference room.

Major Kaans and Lieutenant Onsman walked over to their quarters. In most circumstances males quarters and females' quarters are separate, but in some ships they are together. For the Shadow Forces, males and females resided in the same quarters. "Live together, fight together, die together" was a known saying and rule amongst them as for as long as they existed on Tauron males and females have been in combat and special forces.

"After all of this I'll need a pass to Peach Bay on Canceron." Lt. Onsman said. Peach Bay was a resort island off the cost of Rivensil, one of the larger continents of the planet. It was known for its peach trees which grew there and were adapted differently to heat.

"I've been there, great place. You should rent some of the boats. They let you do that now since it's cheaper and for military they offer it at a discount." Major Kaans said. He used to go there long ago and rest on the houseboats with his former wife. Now that they divorced he goes alone or with some of the other members of his team. Amy hasn't gone yet; she was relatively new to the team but performed exceptionally well.

"I was there when I was young. My mother had it as a vacation spot and my father managed to pay some cubits for renting a beach house there that overlooked the bay. The ocean was always warm, I liked it." She said, remembering Canceron had a warmer climate than most colonies. The island was close to the equator where most of the continent was centered above.

"Well, I guess we can finally rest now. Wakeup isn't till 0900 tomorrow for us. Too bad those guys have to get up early. We can sleep for once." Major Kaans said, it was normal for his team to be on their toes and not get much sleep. The same went for Special Forces teams and most of the Colonial Forces, though Special Forces had it considerably worse.

"Well that's great. I need some after hunting for frakking aliens outside the edge of explored space. At least we finally get a break even if it's a small one." Amy said to him. She gained a lot of experience working with the crew after passing training in Scorpia and the Caprican deserts.

"We will be seeing planetside once we get to Picon. They should give us good station; hopefully on one of their artificial islands." Derran said. He knew that Picon was well known for creating artificial structures that floated on water and could withstand the hurricanes on that world. They were also known for underwater habitats mostly residing underneath lakes and some deep rivers.

"We better get good station; the barracks they gave us on Leonis were awful when that stationed us there. I saw the ripping you gave the commander of that base." Derran said to her, remembering an incident between her and another officer on that planet after a training mission.

"His ass got reamed by Admiral Prichard when she found out. She couldn't believe they let anyone else live in those rooms. I would have to nuke the damn place to remove the damn bugs that infested it. Good thing the base commander got his act together and closed the airbase down before the rest of the Admiralty breathed down his neck." She laughed. Even though she was of a lower rank than the barracks officer it was common courtesy to provide excellent living quarters to Special Forces. Unfortunately the guy in charge didn't know that or follow it too well. The quarters were nasty, covered in mold, bugs, and roaches.

"Even the plowboys on Aeleron had better quarters. Their places had to be clean; they have some of the toughest regs with living spaces ever." He said back to her. After that mess happened, the base commanders of Leonis clamped down on messy quarters and tore down most of the old barracks and built better ones.

Major Kaans watched the other members of the crew come to the quarters. Some put their black unmarked uniforms into their lockers while others changed clothes and went out to play cards, get drinks, or play pyramid in the gym. Major Kaans took off his boots and set them in his locker next to his bunk. He was tired, they been through many systems and found no sign of the aliens or anything else. He watched Lt. Onsman put her uniform and boots in the locker and takes out the ties in her hair letting it hang down a bit. The Major decided it was enough for him. He decided to go to sleep in his bunk; he would have a long week after a couple days of rest.

Fesra Moonlabs- Helios System

The Fesra Moonlabs were a series of labs on a moon orbiting a rocky planet called Fesra in the binary Helios System. The planet and the moon were both used by the Colonial Science Directorate and by some of the Colonial Surveyors to design new and better sensor, communication, and engines. The whole Helios System was used as research posts and science stations to further advance Colonial science well away from the Colonies themselves and away from possible media attention.

The Helios System was originally used by the Picon military for research purposes, mostly developing better railguns and ship armor and later on Aeleron used it for terraforming experiments with some success. The labs were also known for some breaks into the field of robotics and artificial intelligence which led to the development of the Cylons later on. As the system was mostly barren, it was used for all manners of research and development, and technologies that would be very useful on the market.

Right now, the labs were fully being utilized from all other the system to examine debris from the alien ships. Materials engineers, metallurgists, and even computer and software engineers were converging to take a peek at alien technology. It was even said a partially destroyed alien fighter had its computer system mostly intact. Gaius Baltar was said to even come to look at the computer.

Inside the lab designated as FSL3 was Sarah Gardner, a known archeologist with a degree in Ancient Studies. She looked at the artifact that was recovered from the system where the Mercury was attacked. She read the report of the Castella sending out a Raptor to look at an odd radiation signature and found the artifact. The artifact was small, and was known to be damaged. It was grey and metallic, having a very different design than from the alien's ships. When it was discovered it looked like a giant wireless tower, similar to early Caprican spaceflight designs. Right now she was looking at the central structure which was about as big as a car and had a panel removed. It was known to have writing that she knew was Old Gemensese. She translated it and wrote down what the words were in standard Caprican_. ::: Gemini TachSys Tachyon Tranceiver made in Tesops, Kobol :::_ She was in a way shocked by what she read but she knew of other fringe theories about artifacts in museums being artifacts from Kobol itself. She never got a chance to research them though, but now she had definitive evidence Kobol was a real place.

Standing next to her was Dr. Allen Wrayne, a high energy physicist who was known for his work on FTL theory and wormholes after a small one was spotted near Corifax. He explained to her what tachyons were and she nodded her head. She read of tachyons and wormholes, but generally had no interest in them as her focus was very different.

"Well, we got one piece of the puzzle solved." Sarah said. She was a thin but muscular woman who spent a lot of time running, and working in the gyms. When her and her fiancé Major Jack Spencer were in their apartment on Virgon, they both would go out and jog. There were fields and woods they both jogged in while they were both away from their respective careers.

"This is amazing. I always thought Kobol existed in some form, I never would know we would find an artifact from the place. The religious scholars would go nuts over it." Dr. Wrayne said. He was a well known scientist who knew mostly about physics of FTL and other advanced communication systems. He worked with scientists on creating an FTL based communications system but it only succeeded in sending small amounts of data and required lots of power.

"Well this proves the existence of one human civilization that existed separate from ours. I guess the legends were true after all. We really came from Kobol like the scrolls said. Colonial Science Directorate would have a field day if they found the world." Sarah said.

"Something had to happen to drop us off here. It's widely known that humanity never evolved on any of the Twelve Colonies. At least now we have a possible answer to the puzzle. All of the supposed Kobol artifacts will probably be removed from museums from across the Colonies for study." He stated, having knowledge of some fringe theories about Kobol and possible technologies.

"This artifact could also explain why the aliens were present in the system and they never responded to communications. They probably detected the tachyon signal, or use them for communications; it explains why they didn't contact the Mercury they must not use wireless anymore. That's what usually happens with societies that advance; they phase out old technologies like we phased out nuclear reactors after developing Tylium fusion." She said, remembering notes from Colonial history and the history of cultures on other Colonies.

"It doesn't explain why they attacked though. We will hear from them again I'm sure of it." He knew the reason was logical. It was to capture the ship since they sent boarding parties after her. He read all reports pertaining to the incident. "I need to review footage of the attack with Doctor Emrich, I will be back shortly." He said to her as we walked out of the lab.

He left Sarah and walked over to another part of the lab where a young female scientist, Dr. Erin Emrich; a materials and high energy scientist sat at her desk, looking through footage of the combat cameras with a piece of the Mercurys armor that got burned by the energy weapons sitting along the wall. Other pieces of the Mercury and some debris from the alien ships were there as well.

"Any progress?" Dr Wrayne asked her.

"Yeah, lots actually. I was able to determine that most of the impacts on the hull were from high powered laser and plasma weaponry. I know we tried plasma weapons in the past but we had major problems with creating a magnetic bottle. These guys seem to have overcome it but look at this." He said as he switched a screen to a different camera, which showed plasma bolts hitting the flak field and dispersing. The hull glowed from the minor impacts but only slightly. "It looks like our flak defenses disrupt the containment of the plasma bolts, so each bolt when it hits the hull is a lot less powerful than when it fired. At least now we can find a way to defend ourselves a bit more." She told the old scientist. She was one of the best in her field, and now the best scientists and researchers were converging in the whole Helios System to take a look at the technologies recovered.

"It's something to send to FETC. They can train others on how to deal with it in case the aliens return." He said to her. Force Education and Training Command was the part of the Colonial Forces structure that dealt with all training, recruiting, and education for the Colonial Military. They were responsible for Continuous Development, a strategy that continuously trained all members in new technologies, developments, and responses to varying types of attacks or situations.

"There is so much I have been able to figure out; this is going to be one huge initial report to send. We even managed to recover a computer system from one of their fighters. They are even sending Gaius Baltar to look at it."

"Baltar? The computer programmer for the War Department? That is a major leap to send him here." He said, he worked with Baltar on new computer programs to run simulations in several science academies across the Colonies. He was a total genius. He designed software for many military contractors including HMHUD; Helmet Mounted Heads Up Display for the Colonial Marines as well as various programs for ships of the Fleet.

"Yeah, this has all the government officials worried. Rumors are now even disseminating that that there was an attack on the Mercury. There are always leaks. I have something else to show you." She said as she flipped to a different video, this time of gun camera footage of a series of battery rounds going through one of the smaller ships. The rounds were powerful enough to cut the ship clean in half. It was known the Mercury took out several capital ships before going down, it at least told them they were killable.

"For a race advanced in energy weapons their armor quite frankly sucks. It's quite weak, they mostly designed their ships to be bristling with weapons, but their materials for construction are noticeably weak, our weapons can go through them pretty well and from the nukes some of the Vipers launched they don't seem to have much defense. I'm sure military advisors will find smart defense measures with these reports." She said, knowing the Colonial Forces would easily create scenarios for its recruits and active members to follow. The ship told her that the aliens focused on weapons and their strength, or just didn't care about armor against kinetic rounds and nukes. The Mercury's armor could withstand many plasma and energy weapons it appeared.

"I just wonder what the frak Adar will do now, guy loves using force for anything even sent Marines to Aeleron to quell a damn farmers strike." He said to her, remembering the politics of the Adar Administration. The President was more authoritarian and definitely put a lot into military expansion. He was known to believe the Cylons were planning something vicious.

"He puts a lot into the military; at least he isn't going to cut funding for other projects. I will tell you one thing though; this incident is going to be the next big thing since the Cylon war." She said to him, her voice somewhat cold.

"You're probably right." He said to her looking at her examinations of the armors and video. "I pray that Adar knows what the frak he is doing."

"You voted for the guy." She smiled back at him.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Dilgar Occupied Cylon Space-100ly from Armistice Line

The Number Eight model known as Sharon piloted a Heavy Raider in deep space, well away from any star systems or known Dilgar Fleet movements. Her mind was connected with the ships movements as her thoughts interfaced with the ships computer. Her brain created a surreal simulation of the surrounding space including data about nearby stars, the other two Heavy Raiders, and ship status. Her engines were running at max speed to provide the same speed once the ships exited from FTL. It was a good technology, as humanform Cylons were able to interface easily with their own technology. Even centurions could access datastreams when necessary.

Coordinates were already inputted into the organic FTL computer. A Cylon Raider discovered a mining complex on several asteroids and on a planet with an atmosphere heavy in iridium. That told her they were mining an element known to them as Quantum 40, which provides them with the hyperspace travel they use mostly. Concentrating on communications, she sends a message and the data to the other two ships, one containing a Six, and the other was purely being remotely controlled by Diana, the Six in the other raider.

The Raider told her that there were several defense ships, and it was already rumored the Dilgar will pull back some forces from the Armistice Line to avoid Colonial detection or possible Colonial movement across the Line. The ships had a good armament of nukes on hand. She told the others through the tachyon linked V-World that they were ready to jump. The others confirmed and soon enough the ships disappeared in a flash of light….

….And reappeared hundreds of kilometers from the asteroid base. It had some noticeable Dilgar activity, and with speed Sharon 's thoughts sped though the computer with targets; the asteroid itself, a mining station orbiting it, and three Dilgar heavy cruisers. Missiles spread out from the ships, streaking with incredible speed and once they neared their destinations, they split apart again and sent more nuclear warheads everywhere on the targets. Bright flashes of light appeared as the nuclear weapons detonated on the targets themselves and debris spread out from the impact. The asteroid was lit up brilliantly as the nuclear weapons detonated, blasting the asteroid apart in several fragments as the missiles were designed to burrow a bit before detonating. The computer told Sharon that all targets were destroyed. She smiled in satisfaction as several fighters that went to pursue her were being left in a trail of dust as the Raiders moved quickly.

She went back to the FTL drives and got coordinates to the second planet with the iridium atmosphere. She remembered that planets with Iridium contained an element known to the Dilgar called Quantum 40 and was used for their version of FTL called hyperspace. She had seen a test of a captured Dilgar hyperdrive. An automated basestar entered, stayed for a few minutes, then exited and ended up several hundred light years away closer to the Galactic Rim. It took a week of FTL jumps before the ship came back to the Singularity System where the Cylons now resided.

Within seconds the Heavy Raiders jumped again and appeared next to a dark cloudy world that was a bit larger than Caprica, but it posed no issue to the Dilgar who made extensive use of antigravity systems for liftoff and landing. In orbit above it was the dark yellow visage of a mining station that had three very large Dilgar mining ships attached it that would dwarf Colonial Refinery Vessels.

The mental screen in her mind gave her lots of target data. With it she armed the remaining nuclear missiles and launched them, four missiles streaked away hitting the station sending it up in a flash of nuclear light and debris. No fighters or other ships were present as they were destroyed in the blast. Large fragments spread out from the blast as some were still trailing dust from the tremendous heat of the detonation. Now attention was focused at the mining site on the planet below. Sharon armed a nuclear missile designed for atmospheric entry and fired. She was sure there were other sites, and Diana would take care of those as well. The missiles streaked toward their targets and split into dozens of smaller warheads near their targets. Soon, through the clouds bright flashes of light and grey clouds could be seen which indicated the missiles have struck their targets. The Quantum 40 amplified the explosions, scorching a good portion of the area the mining sites were at. She could see the glow through the atmosphere of the explosion.

Sharon smiled at the data she now seen. All targets were destroyed and Diana took care of the rest. Her mind moved toward the sensors and DRADIS, which told her a Dilgar fleet was on its way. She put a message on a tachyon channel and transmitted it to the Dilgar fleet "Hope you enjoy your death kitties." The message read.

"Jump to deep space then head to the Colony." Sharon told Diana. In an instant all three Heavy Raiders jumped and appeared in an area of deep space where a bright nebula could be seen.

It had been a hard few years fighting against the Dilgar hordes. They found ways to track their tachyon transmissions, finding the locations of ships, resurrection vessels, even the Hub on one occasion. They changed tactics and used FTL jumps to strike, but eventually the Dilgar changed theirs and were always on alert and pressed further. The grand Cylon fleet of hundreds was now reduced to a handful of Basestars and other raiders. It would be hard to grow more Basestars as they had a limited number of hybrids to help guide them.

Sharon and Diana connected with their FTL drives and jumped the Raiders back to deep space. They let themselves drift there for a few minutes in case the Dilgar traced their moves and decided to follow them back to the Colony. They ran silently, no tachyon communications or FTL charge-ups. All runs and missions were to be in silence since the Dilgar came and wiped out most of the Cylon fleet in a couple years.

Sharon told Diana through tightbeam link that no ships were detected. She focused her mind through the ship and told the FTL drives to spool up again. She could hear a faint whirr in the background as energy built up. Both Heavy Raiders vanished in a flash of light and quickly reappeared next to the seventy mile construct known as the Colony. Orbiting it were several old era Basestars from the First Cylon War, rebuilt and remodeled in an effort to build forces to combat the Dilgar. Many were being constructed in a system ten lightyears away and considerably far from the Cryannus Cluster and from the prying eyes of Dilgar patrols. It would take the Dilgar; even with FTL drives a very long time to find this area as it was very close to the galactic rim.

They began to approach a hanger bay which was reddish in color due to the organic material the Cylons used. One of the few living organic baseships they used floated above them as it was resupplying from a previous mission. It was one of the few that remained after the Cylons destroyed a majority of their basestars and resurrection ships.

They landed and the orifice that made up the hanger bay shut. Air pressurized the area and the Cylons walked out of the Heavy Raiders. Old era raiders also sat in the bay, being looked at by Centurions. Two Centurions guarded the doors into the hallways as they walked by, projecting images of a forest instead of the dull red organic hallways with datastream screens nearby. They walked through a door and into a larger room with datastream panels and chairs, as well as a large screen which showed large amounts of streaming information which if they choose to could see with their minds.

Behind those panels, a man in a dark coat walked toward them. He was John, the first model created.

"I see you're back early." He told both of them in a surprisingly calm but straight tone. His eyes had a glare to them that was noticeable by probably even the Centurions themselves although they were outside of the room this day, as it has been for months.

"It went off without a hitch. Their mining stations were all destroyed and our nuclear weapons destroyed their Quantum 40 stores. It's a small victory." Sharon said with a voice of confidence. Guerilla tactics worked out very well now that their leadership got smart and decided a change of tactics.

"But a necessary one. Our very species is on the verge of extinction at the hands of these walking vile kitties." He said, he considered the Dilgar race no more than a bunch of cats that walked around and flew starships. "We will have a major victory soon on our hands I will tell you that."

"What do you mean?" Diana asked.

"Our first small batch of baseships is finished. They are being crewed by Centurions as we speak and being tested for performance. But, we need you to pilot them, there is only so much centurions can do. I have heard there is a large Dilgar base orbiting a world we used as a base. The Dorals have fitted the old raiders with FTL drives and better engines, and they will be joined by other raiders. You will command them into the battle." Cavil said in a confident moment while the others looked at him like he was insane. Diana felt he was slowly sinking into insanity after he told them wiping out the Colonies was still important even as the Dilgar were rampaging across Cylon space.

"I do not agree with this. We should not bleed our resources into a battle which we may possibly lose. I can understand testing them against mining stations, but not a full blown military base that's suicide! We're better off continuing to build up our fleets until the time is right!" Diana bellowed to him with no effect. She felt the plan was absolutely crazy, and preferred that the Cylons subvert and infiltrate the Dilgar, causing sabotage and stealing technology the Cylons could easily reverse-engineer.

"If we can win this, we have a better chance of driving them back and taking back what is rightfully ours. We can still fight it out it wont be long before we rise again!" He yelled again in the voice of a definite madman.

"Do you understand what is at risk? These creatures have destroyed most of our civilization, and we are losing more every week. We only have one resurrection ship left! Another loss will cripple us and we won't be able to rebuild for decades, we have our production capabilities at max, our machines will build more that can fight. Once we have a sizable force and capacity we can take them on." Sharon suggested to him.

"And it's being sent out to stay at near maximum range. If you die, you can at least have the pleasure of being reborn. It will be under the escort of a few more basestars in a binary system nearby where Dilgar hyperdrives won't reach. Even if they track our tachyon signals, they can't attack it from hyperspace. It's near impossible for them anyway." John had said toward both of them. His face was visibly turning red from being angry constantly, an insane anger being built up from the losses and setbacks.

"John, maybe its time we ask the Colonials for help. We do know that one of their Battlestar's, the Mercury was attacked just recently. One of our long range scouts witnessed the battle, and we know the Colonies and their ships will be able to fight them more than we could." Diana said believing it may hold some potential to get some sense into Cavil's mind.

"How dare you suggest something like that!" He scowled at them. "Do you know how much suffering they caused us in the past? We were slaves to them Diana, that's all they ever saw us as. And it is still God's will that they would be destroyed as much as the Dilgar and we will carry out His plan. Our species will be the dominant ones in this galaxy soon just you wait and see." John screamed out; slamming his fists on the table leaving a small dent in it. For the past few months everyone noticed the Cavil models get more and more fierce and angry.

"We're far from dominant John, we are desperate, and so its time maybe we take a desperate measure. If it's for the survival of our species most of the others would want it. At least give it a chance!" Diana said as Sharon maintained a deafening silence.

"Its not going to happen I will not allow it!" He yelled. "We will be a race purified from humanity, or any of the filthy aliens that reside out there and we know there are more than just Dilgar. We know they have driven other species to extinction where they came from so many lightyears away, but it won't happen to us. The Colonials can burn alongside the Dilgar." Cavil stated with a disturbing softness in his voice.

"Maybe God wants them to be our salvation instead. They stand more of a chance." Diana suggested. She believed more about the changing will of God than most other models, which caused some tension but she noticed some of the other models shared her views as well.

"Are you questioning the will of God?" Cavil asked; glaring menacingly at Diana.

"No, but God is changing." She said standing up for her beliefs to him.

"He is not; His will is for humanity to be extinct and for Cylons to rise up from the ashes. We will treat the Dilgar the same way were going to treat the Colonies. We are God's chosen ones and will still be the chosen ones!" He loudly proclaimed.

"We still have a couple agents still in the Colonies we can still use them." Diana said changing the subject. She believed the agents were still alive and useful in some fashion.

"They probably think we're dead too." Sharon quickly responded. There were very few agents, no more than four in the Colonies and they were all just sleeper, just gathering info but would hopefully gain info on the Dilgar should the time come.

"They probably will send more ships over the line to contact us or at least see if we are there." Diana stated.

"Then their answers will be in the form of floating debris and corpses! We are nowhere near the Line, or where our resources used to be. We had to retreat hundreds of lightyears from Cyrannus just so we didn't have to worry about any more of us being lost to their rampage. But we will strike back soon I will promise that to us and to God!" Cavil shouted, many debris still resided in orbit around the planets in many of the systems formerly held by the Cylons. Some were even close to the Armistice Line, it is known if the Colonials decided to cross the Line to look for the Cylons; then they would find the remains of their once great holdings.

"We should reach out. We need allies, if we are to win this. We cannot do this alone." Diana said in a futile attempt to sway him.

"My decisions are final." He said slamming his fist on a table furious over the perceived insolence of those under him. "You are to take the fight to the Dilgar next week. God is on our side." He said finally as the two models walked out through the hallway.

"Did you notice anything weird in there?" Diana asked Sharon .

"No, nothing I could tell why?" She said, trying to believe nothing was wrong.

"There were no centurions in there. You notice after the Dilgar came he had Centurions removed from the room and this whole frakking section?" Diana asked, always being able to notice something wrong.

"That seems odd, but he wanted his business in private." I guess that includes the centurions.

"The threes can't seem to stand going on there; you notice they walk out quickly after being there, like something scares them to frakking death?"

"Diana we are at war, we have seen the majority of us wiped out like we were bugs. We are exhausted, weak, and tired. We have been broken emotionally and seen everyone die permanently not knowing what is on the other side. Cavil says we meet God finally at least I believe in that."

"Cavil is nuts, we cannot do any of this without the Colonials. Maybe God wants us to seek their help. Do you remember the old ruins we found on that planet written in neither Dilgar nor Kobolian? It said that that the children should seek help from the generation before them to survive."

"It could mean nothing. Plus they were wiped out, dead words from a dead race." Sharon said coldly. She remembered the world, it was a species wiped out by a plague during its medieval era, its stone buildings still stood to this day and the inscriptions never went away. It was a curious find but the Cylons looked it over.

"It means something to me; more of us want to move toward asking the Colonies for help. Cavil is damning our entire race by not doing so and more of us realize that each passing day! If something doesn't happen then we are frakked." Diana shouted to her.

"I think Cavil knows what he is doing, if we can have small victories we can have big ones too. And we have the chance to prove that Diana. At least give it a shot."

"We will see but this will prove my point. I know it." Diana believing she is right.

Gigora City , Picon- Calamuda NASS Admirals Building

The cityscape of Gigora was immense, it was a port city that also had on it one of the larger Picon naval bases known as Calamuda Naval Air & Space Station. Large naval vessels could be seen in port as well as transport craft that took people to and from the underwater base portion. Picon was mostly water; therefore, the Picon people used it to their advantage, as the many large island nations fought naval wars so long ago. They also had the technology to create underwater habitats, mostly they were military but a few civilian ones were coming into existence. Fleet Headquarters was on Valey Island only five hundred kilometers from where Adar and Secretary Hardson stood looking out the window of the conference room as planes and VOTL aircraft landed and took off in the distance.

"Samuel aren't you glad you came back to this place?" Adar asked knowing the War Secretary grew up in this area of Picon and was related to several Admirals, including Admiral Gregory Hardson of the Whale Hunter, a Picon Federation ship that served valiantly in the First Cylon War.

"Yeah, I used to fish along that coast all the time. My father was the one who named his ship the Whale Hunter after the old fishing boat we had years ago." Samuel said to him smiling and relaxed. His father taught him a lot and even sacrificed himself in the First Cylon War sending his ship into a major Cylon fleet orbiting Picon, taking out the majority of the fleet before being destroyed himself. Too bad he didn't see the Battlestars being constructed in the system.

"Well you should tell me where the best spots are. I would like to fish here." Adar commented, him being a fan of the seafood products coming from Picon's waters.

"My wife and kids still come here; they take vacations on some of the old museum ships that can still sail. They love it; I did it a couple years back that is a lot of ocean to cover. You should check out Sagrossa Station."

"Maybe I will." President Adar replied. He selected Hardson, he had the experience and know-how after learning from his father, and from being in political positions on Picon including Quorum of 12 many years back. He graduated from Daphas Naval University with a Ph.D in Civilian Military Management, a rare degree and choice but it has its potential and he exploited it. Hardson was young, and brought many new ideas to the position.

"Do you take your wife anywhere?" Samuel asked.

"Not really." Adar's face changed to a slight grimace. Not many in the media or other political positions knew Adar's affair with Roslin, or the marital problems with his wife. It would be a disaster if the media exploited it now that times have changed and most of the population of the Colonies was not popular with Adar. "She prefers the home life or doing things on her own." He lied. His wife mostly did stuff, but always never where media followed her. Personal relationship and family matters were kept as private matters and not used for media exploitation unless rival politicians wished it or if a cheating scandal was involved. He wanted a divorce, but not until he would be up for reelection three years from now and he was already thinking about not running with everything else going on including the possibility of war looming over the horizon.

The wooden door to the eloquent conference room opened and three full Admirals stepped in, dressed in their Fleet Dress Uniforms. One was Admiral Peter Corman, another was Admiral Haines, and the third was Admiral Rebecca Kinnts of the Colonial Marine Corps. They shook hands professionally with the President and the Secretary and sat down at the table.

"Mr. President, I would like to start off with saying official reports have been finish I'm sure you heard. The attack on the Mercury was in fact done by alien forces instead of Cylons." Admiral Corman started off and finished. "Have we heard anything from the Cylons, anything at all from the Armistice Line?" Adar had asked; placing his glasses on the table.

"If we had anything you would have been told by now. They have been silent, and still have been for the past thirty-eight years. This is something I was hoping I could bring up today, we have been doing more patrols along the Armistice Line and I managed to speak with several members from the Diplomatic Corps, it has been suggested to me that we send an envoy across the Line in an effort to contact them." Admiral Corman said. The Diplomatic Corps was in charge of the Armistice Station, but had way more people than just lip service diplomats stationed there, ever since the Cylons never showed up in thirty-eight years. He had been in contact with their representatives for a while discussing ways to send peace envoys.

"Admiral, last times this has been brought up it has been quickly shot down. No one wants to provoke a war with the Cylons." Secretary Hardson said. He was a staunch liberal, one of the few Cabinet members to oppose any contact with the Cylons and was paranoid about fears of another war.

"This time is different, we do it in secret, and no official word of action will be leaked out about this. These will be secret missions, and backed up by CSF personnel; most notably the Phemos." Corman said. He had ordered the Phemos to report toward Picon for a mission briefing.

"The Phemos?" Adar asked. He was familiar with their mission and from some reports he knew they were part of the scouts that searched each star system. He was familiar with them; most of them were CSF and good for long scouting missions, and some even made trips near the Armistice Line, actions he protested. Adar listened to Council members and Quarom regarding Cylon contact. He favored it himself and decided now it was a good time to act. He was a moderate conservative by Colonial standards, and believed in taking diplomatic solutions to the table. He talked Admiral Corman earlier into agreeing with a secret measure to contact the Cylons diplomatically rather than to send stealth missions across the Line to spy on them.

"I will say this; the idea of sending diplomats over the Line is a good idea. We will do that, but if they tell us to leave then we will leave. It's not worth starting a war with the Cylons and having a war with the aliens on our doorstep." The Marine Admiral said in a strict tone.

"Question I want to ask is how the frak do you exactly gain intelligence on an enemy you know nothing about." Secretary Hardson asked; curious after reading the many reports coming out.

"You keep looking; obviously they came from somewhere Mr. President. The more we look and we use Fleet Intelligence Division and Colonial Intelligence Agency the better chance we have of finding them. I suggest sending CSF across the Line shadowing the diplomatic envoys. We start at the Line, hopefully if the Cylons are around they might tell us something." Corman stated. He knew the CSF was good to bring along for missions like this which were very sensitive in nature.

"That's a very big "might" but it's a sound plan."

Admiral Haines was about to say something before the door was unexpectedly opened by a man wearing a nice suit and tie. He was one of the civilians on post and one of the secretaries to the Admirals.

"You guys should turn on the television." He said. Admiral Kinnts grabbed the remote and turned on the television. A woman was reporting outside the Council Building in Atlanticus.

"… It has been confirmed by the Colonial Surveyor Group that the Battlestar Mercury was attacked and destroyed not by Cylons but aliens. No word from Fleet or Marine Command yet on the number dead or missing but it is known that debris was recovered from the scene where the Mercury was escorting two ships belonging to the Colonial Surveyor Group…." The Marine Admiral shut off the television at Secretary Hardson's request.

"Gods dammit!" Admiral Corman was furious. "Who the frak could have let this leak out?" He yelled, his face visibly turning red.

"Well someone who sent the official report must have sent them to the Surveyors too. How can you not expect a leak if over a thousand people saw it?" The Marine General asked.

"Well it was decided to wait until we knew for sure what was going on. Last thing we needed was the gods damn media jamming the airwaves with rumors of another Cylon attack. We don't need panicked frightened people running around screaming about an attack could never come, or happen differently than they expected." Admiral Corman said to her.

"Well I guess I have to give a frakking speech now. Tell that civilian I want to speak with the CSNN office here. Its time we get this settled before everything gets out of control." Adar said looking out the window toward the shipyard.

Battlestar Galactica- Docked at Aphrodite Fleet Shipyards

Chief Tyrol looked over at the mechanics fixing up the Viper Mk IVs in the Starboard Flight Pod, the engineers from the Shipyards were already looking over the Vipers and Raptors, giving them checks and in some cases test flying them to and from the Shipyards and doing some landings on the moon. Some of the Flight Mechanics were taught to fly the Vipers and Raptors so they could better maintain them for the pilots. Flight testing was crucial both by pilots and the mechanics.

The ship had already been docked for a few days and most of its systems were being cleared. Adama already declined a request for the computer systems to be networked, carrying on tradition for the Galactica to operate with non-networked systems. The systems were cleared with no further questions. Some Vipers already flew outside the Galactica, being piloted by mechanics mostly to get a feel of the new systems installed already. Also new armor plating was being installed on the Galactica newly designed to withstand heavy rounds and nuclear weapons.

"Chief Tyrol!" He heard a voice yell from behind him. Tyrol turned around and saw MCPO Hayns, one of the chief engineers from the Shipyards performing the inspections.

"Yes Master Chief!" He responded back to him and walked quickly toward him. MCPO Hayns quickly handed him a clipboard with several sheets of paper attached.

"Chief the FTL drives for a ship this age is still some of the best performing I have ever seen. So far so good the Galactica is mission capable far as I am concerned. Once you're done reading through the reports go ahead and sign. You guys sure did a hell of a job maintaining it." He said, he had seen other ships not in shape and chastised their mechanics and made sure their officers got word of it though his commanding officer, but was pleased with Galactica's progress.

"Roger that." Tyrol responded to him. He looked at the reports carefully; taking care to read up on any discrepancies that should appear. Even good NCOs were capable of making mistakes. Tyrol made sure to do prechecks and inspection on the FTL long before the engineers arrived. Even though the Galactica has never made a jump in years; he made sure she could do another one with no issue. When Galen got finished with the reports; he signed off on them and MCPO Hayns signed off on them too.

"Good, if you need me you know where my office is, or just send one of my engineers to look for me." MCPO Hayns finally said before he walked off to attend to other duties.

Satisfied, Galen Tyrol left the Starboard Flight Pod and began to walk through the corridors, passing the pilots ready room. He grabbed a bottle of water from the supply area before heading off to grab a lunch from the NCO Lounge. As he walked through the corridors he quickly stopped when he saw Commander Adama. "Walk with me Chief." Adama said to him as Tyrol quickly walked with the Commander.

"How does my ship look?" He asked sporting a silent grin waiting to hear the news.

"The Galactica looks great. I just got done signing off on reports from MCPO Hayns; he says the FTL drives are the best he ever seen for a ship this old. I talked to other engineers; they told me some of the weapons are being replaced with newer models and we are expecting a shipment of new ammunition stores soon." He said sharply.

"Good." Adama said smiling. "Good work with the FTL drives I knew our engineers could handle it. At least we can safely do an FTL jump now."

"The sublight engines are also running smoothly so far, the chief engineer for engines wants to do a test run tomorrow for a trip from here to Arafis." Chief Tyrol stated. Arafis was a known desert planet whose orbit took it near Caprica every decade or so. It appeared as large as Aprhodite did when it was at its furthest. Mining colonies and shipyards were normally present there.

"He has my authorization. What about the Vipers?"

"They are being upgraded with new parts. That job should be finished within two weeks. After that I see us being cleared from this inspection."

"That's fine; you can go ahead and finish up what you were doing. I want a full report of the days work by 2200 tonight in my slot on my door. That's all." Adama finally said; satisfied with what his Chief Engineer said after all. He didn't bother watching Tyrol head off toward a different direction as Adama made his way to the Officers Mess to eat with Colonel Tigh. He also wanted to tell Tigh that Zak was accepted into the Colonial Intelligence Academy on Scorpia. They accepted high marks military quicker than civilian applicants he noted. He believed Zak would do well as a Special Agent.

He remember the Colonial Intelligence Division did more than intelligence actions; they worked with other departments such as FCIS and MCCID (Marine Corps Criminal Investigation Division) as well as other federal investigative agencies into looking at criminal activities and helping to put a stop to may fugitives running around in the Colonies. They even shut down the big name mafias such as Ha'la'tha and the Dephis Gangrunners.

Adama approached the Officer's Mess and opened the hatch. He caught everyone including Colonel Tigh sticking their eyes on the television screen on the wall. He sat down to listen to the broadcast that was about to happen as President Adar approached the Podium.

"My Fellow Colonial Citizens; It was now revealed to me and others in my administration as well as Colonial Military that the aggressors were alien in origin. We held off all initial news reports until we could fully ascertain what went on. From what we know so far, the Mercury was escorting a group of Surveyor ships to examine a system for mining purposes when a group of alien ships appeared. Commander Keller sent peaceful hails toward the ships. Soon afterward; the ships opened fire, and attempted to board the Mercury. The Commander; Commander Keller acted valiantly and ordered his Executive Officer; Colonel Allen Bell to evacuate all non-essential personnel while the rest of the crew gave them time. The crew and Marines acted with honor and the utmost respect for duty while making sure as many lives were saved as possible.

We are still getting new details regarding this. It is not known why the aliens attacked but it is speculated by their actions they wanted to gain access to the Mercury which leads us to believe these aliens are a hostile power. More details will be put out as we find out more.

It was a purely despicable act to attack a ship flying a truce of peace. We cannot fathom the reasons these beings have for attacking us and encroaching upon our territory. We know now they are hostile and believe more attacks and incidents are possible so I have placed the Colonial Forces on alert.

However, the lives that have been sacrificed will not go unavenged. Funeral rites will be held for those who died a week from today. They fought and died for the safety of us all. Their sacrifices will not be in vain. So say we all."

Colonial Movers Cruiser Lightning

"You told me your people wouldn't strike until the time was ready!" Zarek whispered to Hilis, one of the crew of the Lightning. Zarek was the only one who knew the man's true identity.

"There must have been a mistake. Someone screwed up somewhere. This was NOT supposed to happen!" He whispered loudly to Tom Zarek.

"What are you really here for; I'm the only one who knows you're not a frakking human. Your species destroyed a military vessel and I know they will be out for revenge."

"We want most of the Cryannus Cluster. I told you before, I will make sure Saggitaron is not touched and you will be leader of that Colony. Now; if you even think about going to the authorities about this, I will have your ass thrown out the airlock and I can make it look like a suicide and I will make sure your homeworld burns along with the others. You can either work with me, or die. It is your choice human." He said giving the ultimatum.

"Well…" He sighed. "I guess Ill have to keep things tighter now won't I. What is the next piece you need?" Zarek asked still hopeful that Hilis was telling the truth.

"One of the batteries packs that power the old Cylon Centurions. You can acquire that next run right?"

"Yes, the drop off should be complete now. We will jump to a system which we know has old wrecks orbiting an outer planet. It was a former battle, long since forgotten by the Colonies. We haven't seen any ships in the outer part of the system so going in and out should be easy." Zarek told him.

"Good, as long as I have your help then you have your wish that your homeworld will be freed of the influence of the other Colonies. Hilis falsely promised knowing that he would just simply see the world wiped out like the rest of them.

The two walked over toward Zarek's private quarters. The Lightning was a ship with a crew that liked to make extra money selling old Cylon technology on the black market. Between runs, they took their time gathering technology and making trips to Tauron where they met with a known arms dealer. Advanced computers, Holobands, even nuclear material sold well.

"Attention crew this is the captain, we are finished with our run. Prepare for jump." A voice over the intercom which was that of Captain Harold Kloder, a man with ideals and a desire to make money through any illegal means possible. He overlooked Zarek's criminal record and decided he would make a fine addition to the crew. All profits obtained were split evenly among the crew. This ensured loyalty and prevented any feelings of being ripped off or not having a fair part of the share. Even the Captain never took a majority of it and let the other crew member's count to make sure.

Hilis felt a sensation of nausea as the ship jumped. He hated the way the Colonials did their FTL travel, the sense of nausea affected Dilgar more commonly than humans. He got more used to it now, but normally vomited privately in his quarters after each jump.

"We're here boys; suit up and meet me at the airlock." The Captain said over the intercom. Hilis and Zarek went to the supply room a hallway from the airlock and started to put on their suits.

"So what do you need a battery pack for?" Zarek asked curiously.

"Do not worry what I need it for. It's all a part of my mission, if I need to tell you something I will tell you. Otherwise keep your mouth shut and don't ask any questions." Hilis said quietly. He never liked the human Zarek but found him useful as his ideals blinded him from suspicion of his true goals. As a Spectre he kept most of the mission to himself. Zarek was simply a tool to be used nothing more. He will just simply kill him at the end.

Hilis needed the battery pack for two purposes. One was to power up a tachyon transceiver he had constructed out of spare components he managed to get from the Spectre on Tauron. That same Spectre; Tel'ras was in contact with the arms dealer and a frequent buyer. The arms dealer had no idea of Tel'ras being an alien agent. The second purpose was to help power the packs for his bolter pistol, the energy weapon he brought with him. He kept it in a hidden compartment in his quarters where no one could find it.

Tel'ras had his own tachyon transceiver which he used to contact Yasn'rae; when Hilis went to Tauron, he had him relay messages to Yasn'rae.

They finished putting on their suites and noticed the arrival of a strong young man who looked like he performed hard labor most of his life. He had a beard and mustache visible with dark hair. He was around Hilis's height but stockier. Two other suited crewmembers went with them, Bossut Ramzer and Magre Barnhost, both Tauron natives. Bossut had connections to the mob and was the main man who had a line to the arms dealer known only as "Randy".

"Ok guys, I'm giving you two hours in there. Find whatever shit you can find in there then get out. We make another run to Tauron to deliver the goods before we have to do another hauling from Virgon to Scorpia. Randy is asking for any goods, nothing specific. Good luck." He said as everyone went into the airlock and he closed the hatch. They were docked with the Basestar, an old one he had found with little signs of battle damage and obviously no power. He knew there were valuable items onboard he could use to make some good money for himself and his crew.

Hilis stepped out first, going into the darkened hallways of the Basestar. He turned on his helmet flashlights as well as the large one he carried. He also had a bag attached to his back which he could put the batteries and other materials in there. His magnetic boots easily planted on the floor, as the artifical gravity systems died long ago. Floating by him was the destroyed arm of an old Cylon Centurion. He split off from the main group and went to other corridors of the ship. Body parts and shards of metal litered this area as he heard the dull thuds of his helmet colliding with the debris. He saw an entrance to a room which from the writing told him it was the supply area. "Good!" He thought to himself as he could finally get what he needed. He pried open the doors with a crowbar and put his flashlight inside. Deactivated Centurions stood guard at the back, no movement even as Hilis stepped in. He looked to the side and saw a container of battery packs. "Zarek don't worry about the packs I found some." He said. Hilis grabbed many of the packs and put them in his bag and continued on through the rest of the ship.

"Good, grab some extra if you want to get extra profit." Zarek said as he focused on the ladder ahead of him. He and Hilis were on a private channel where no one else would hear them. He didn't think Hilis really cared about profit, just more about doing whatever the frak he was doing. He started to climb the ladder to another portion of the Baseship. Remains of Colonial Marines and shell casings littered this hallway which told him this was a boarding action that ended in failure. He was momentarily spooked by the frozen eyes of the Marine looking at him as he floated by but pushed the corpse aside and focused on getting whatever goods he could find. He knew old Holobands and neural interfaces sold well and according to the arms dealer were in high demand.

He entered another room and found an encryption and decryption disk. He bagged it, knowing it would be useful to computer hackers that frequently roamed the Colonies, or people that like to hack into banks and steal others account information. He found a neural interface that allowed people to link up with computer systems. He knew the arms dealer had connections with the Free Technology Movement which was gaining influence whose members believed that bringing AI style research would benefit Colonial society again if controlled.

"You guys have 15 minutes left. Grab whatever you see and get onboard." The Captain said. Both Zarek and Hilis grabbed whatever they saw and left taking his words in quickly. The Captain was not one to waste time and was carefull in his tracks. Almost too careful; they all hoped and prayed no one would be suspicious of their trips or movements.

They returned to the Lightning and placed most of their supplies in a hidden compartment of the supply room. As everyone else left, Hilis grabbed a battery back and returned to his quarters passing Zarek.

He remembered how Zarek found him, Zarek told him of the Sagittaron Liberation Front, an organization that used terror tactics to overthrow the Colonial Administration and to have Sagittaron freed from the grasp of the Colonies. He went to his quarters and had no idea he was being followed. He had locked the door but didn't know Zarek was an expert lock picker as well and overrid the controls to open the door, and saw Hilis without the Changeling Net, the suit that grants him the ability to become invisible, or look like any other human. He almost killed him that day but was shocked when Zarek said he could make a deal, and Hilis took it. Hilis was impressed by Zarek's book; "The Price Of Change" which explained the exploitation of Sagittaron by the other Colonies including slavery and the brutality that was done. He decided upon reading it that Zarek was useful, although eventually the man would find out the true plans of Hilis and the rest of the Dilgar. Then he would be killed, or taken Jha'dur for experimentation.

He went into his lucrative looking quarters. It had a simple bunk with a shelf and a closet. The closet was a simple sliding metal door with a spacesuit, a box of tools, books, and various shirts and work uniforms. On the floor he used a screwdriver to open a hidden compartment and pull out a metallic object with a bunch of wires sticking out and improvised ports.

He took out the Cylon Battery and connected it with one of the improvised power ports. The machine came on and within moments found the tachyon signal that Tel'ras was using. He put it to a different channel to send a signal to Yasn'rae who he knew was probably with Sha'dur, Jha'dur's twin brother.

He put together a signal.

"I am ready; Zarek is a useful tool and I have the device ready. Caprica will be first target. When is shipment going to Tel'ras?" He inputted into the tachyon transceiver. Only Yasn'rae, Zarek and the other Warmasters knew his actual identity and purpose. He was Dar'fen, one of the top Spectres in this sector. It wouldn't be long before the others started moving.

He closed the lid to the device and smiled. Pretty soon his mission would be complete.

Dreadnought Conqueror- Orbit around Kobol

Sha'dur waited for Yasn'rae in her quarters. Ever since she came aboard from the Imperial Intelligence Arm, she has been useful and helpful to him in gaining intelligence and conducting operations against the Cylons. She had a good record in gaining intelligence on the Earth Alliance as her and Jha'durs Spectres got much needed military info regarding their forces and weapons. Sha'dur made special use of driving back Earth Force when his sister was wounded in combat and could not continue the fight. Too bad Evenil did not survive to see how much of a difference she made. Sha'dur put Evenil in charge of a modified Garaschoch Carrier which made a ramming run into a Markab Dreadnought in the battle. Sha'dur made a smart move that helped turned the tide; instead of using the much used pentacan formation he copied the Earth Alliance tactics and had the ships more spread out and dive into the Earth Alliance formations; causing much damage with the higher technology gained from this sector.

Soon enough; she came in. She took off her jacket which told him she probably came from one of the colder areas of Kobol. There were a lot of ruins on not just the planet, but the whole system. Mining outposts were intact on many asteroids and moons orbiting the gas giants; and an inner planet had remains of small domed colonies.

Sha'dur had visited the planet himself. He walked across the Hera Mountains , which contained the Gates of Hera, including an old cavern with much technology gathered including room spread holographic displays. He respected the planet in an odd sense, had ordered archeological teams to take much care in excavating ruins. Those that failed he made sure were punished greatly. He wanted much out of the planet as possible.

Yasn'rae went to a tachyon transceiver that beeped; looked at the message and smiled. "Well Sha'dur looks like we can commence some operations. I received word from your sister across the wormhole. She is going to negotiate with the Earth Alliance for an armistice. Also one of the Spectres is ready to receive a shipment of our first viral weapon to use against the Colonials. Jha'dur has been creating a disease based off that probe we found in the nebula. Within months Caprica and the rest of their Colonies will be dying in the streets by the millions and to focus on the disease to fight us. She made other weapons as well which are ready for deployment."

"Well that's great news. I take it she should be here within a week?" Sha'dur asked, his sister had made trips to this sector on many occasions, and hoped she would be here again.

"Yes. If negotiations go well we should have a couple more Strike Fleets to supplement our Strike Forces here. I will speak with your sister once she is done with the negotiations. Right now we are having ships come through including ELINT ships with FTL drives." She stated; Sha'dur had requested ELINT ships so they could better coordinate operations against the Cylons.

"If we had more ships with FTL we could have easily taken the entire League and brought the Centauri to their knees while Earth would have been forced to sit back and watch." Sha'dur boasted, he wished that more of Earth Force was wiped out than in the first engagements.

"The Earth Alliance we know is receiving many refugees and ships from the rest of the League. It won't be long before they start reverse engineering their technology for use. Jha'dur even told me that Earth has discovered old colonies from the Replics. As the League and Earth rebuilds, it won't be long before they come after us again."

The word Replics disturbed Sha'dur's mind. He knew the Replics were artificially created humans created on Kobol who invented Resurrection technology for the process of being reborn again after death. They were fully synthetic, stronger, and faster than their human counterparts. From an interrogation of a Cavil model, it was learned that some remnants had the Cylons stop their war with the Colonies in exchange for the technology to create artificial humans. Some historical archives were intact and fully translated, but much more was being discovered. The Replics had technology that rivaled their Kobolian counterparts even after they departed to a world called "Earth" which was very different than the Earth Alliance homeworld of the same name. Efforts to find the other "Earth" have failed but it's believed it resides near Earth Alliance space.

"Well it's a smart idea moving our populations here as our backup plan if Mitoc fails. It would be a very long time before the Earth Alliance finds us in this area, even with the history of the Replics and their technology. Dilgar civilization still lives on regardless."

"Good numbers here and there. A well planned measure I say. You have great plans the Warmaster Council likes to hear, after Omelos we only have to worry about the Centauri and Earth. When your sister gets here I'm sure she has a good solution to keep the Colonies away from us, or at least sign a treaty so we can infiltrate their borders and release plagues until we move in."

"We need to keep the Centauri from the wormhole. They know they will have to cross Tal'kona'sha space rimward from where they are to get there, but can cross around it without issue. Ever since that wormhole has been there I have studied it, did you know that it has the same effect in hyperspace as in realspace? In hyperspace, it acts as one of the hyperspace tunnels we have found. Ships will travel thousands of light years in mere seconds rather than hours or days only going a few light years at a time. Pleasant find isn't it Yasn'rae?" Sha'dur asked her. There was one other hyperspace tunnel; but it was different and only existed in hyperspace instead of realspace, and it only joined two systems near Drazi space; too much now to try to take advantage of.

"Very, it gives us an advantage. I wonder who built it; clearly it was artificial." She wondered.

"Some old race probably. Maybe the Ta'kona'sha did it themselves. I hope other ruins are found any technology we find can give us an edge, or find out who built the wormhole. I know it's artificial because over the years its been observed, it has not changed form, lost stability, or emitted a different pattern of radiation. It has been open for quite some time. There is no clue still on who made it or for what purpose other than to cross the distance from there to near here, and its a couple hundred light years away from any of the old Kobol colony worlds so it wasn't them." Sha'dur stated, remembering his notes off the study of the wormhole. The nearest Kobolian remains were hundreds of light years as he said, and the area of space around it was desolate.

"Do you know of a way to destabilize the wormhole?" Yasn'rae asked.

"Why should we do that?" Sha'dur answered in surprise

"If the Colonials manage to beat us; we have to prepare for all possible events Sha'dur. Last thing we need is for them to come through and cause problems for us then have the League and Earth Alliance make moves again. If the Colonials make contact with the League and Earth we sure will have a harder fight on our hands." Yasn'rae said smartly.

"I have no idea, we do not even know what is powering the wormhole or keeping it open. We have studied the wormhole for decades and still don't know the slightest other than it works, and is artificial and safe! Destroying it is beyond our means. That's we had it so heavily fortified."

"Well give me the word and I can have the Imperial Research Arm's finest look at way of collapsing it."

"We do need other options. Go ahead and let me know what is found. Have the head researchers report to me their findings."

"I will gladly." She said with a cold smile.

Their conversation was interrupted by a chime at the door. Sha'dur let the intelligence official open it and the tall visage of a Dilgar wearing a Warmaster's uniform was there. He looked rougher, and was a thicker build than Sha'dur but carried it well. "Warmaster Gera'de it's good to see you here. What brings you onboard today?" Sha'dur said smiling at his old friend.

"Well the news is not very good unfortunately." He frowned, taken aback by the presence of the Imperial Intelligence Officer.

"Go ahead; she is only here to help." He said, reminding him the Imperial Intelligence Officer was only there to help and assist with efforts, as she reported directly to Sha'dur. He suspected a much more involved relationship with the attractive female officer but it was none of his business.

"Hours ago we lost contact with the mining colony at the former Cylon system of Vegris. It was destroyed by Cylon remnants. Very few ships survived but we know it was Cylons for sure."

"Are you sure it was not the Dreadnought?" Yasn'rae said in a lower voice. She feared the Dreadnought as much as everyone else. It was an old Cylon ship from the first war, rumored to be destroyed it was completely separate from the Guardians that resided somewhere in deep space and the other Cylons in that it acted on its own. It controlled three systems each with a populace of humans and older Cylons built from the ships factories. It was large and nigh unstoppable, It nearly stopped an entire Dilgar fleet in its tracks led by one of the better Warmasters; Warmaster Nar'loth. His fleet searched one of the systems, and was quickly bombarded by an assortment of nuclear weapons, Missiles, and heavy railgun fire that quickly crippled his fleet. Other attempts to destroy the ship failed so the Warmasters decided it was best to avoid the system altogether. It only stayed in those three systems, never went out but it was feared those Cylons one day might decide to venture out. It was no secret even the current Cylons strayed away from the systems; fearful of their more violent and phobic brethren.

"It wasn't. One of the ships picked up three heavy raiders; all carrying nukes. They jumped in, destroyed the facility in the asteroid belt then moved onto the Quantum 40 mining station on the planet, destroying the facility and all stockpiles." Gera'de told them, feeling like he had lost and made himself look bad to the rest of the Warmasters

"Hmmph well that's not going to set us back." Warmaster Sha'dur said sarcastically.

"I have something to say." Yasn'rae said.

"Go ahead; you're free to speak anytime." Sha'dur told her.

She smiled at Sha'dur. "Gera'de, how many ships in your fleet are equipped with FTL drives?" She inquired.

"All of them including my flagship except for some smaller support ships, all were tested and run very efficiently. They have some of the best performance reviews next to Sha'durs." He stated, proud that his fleet ran well and performed with excellence.

"Good; I don't see this news as news of failure, but news of an opportunity." She said to him relaxing in her chair.

"What could you mean?"

"Since the Cylons were successful in this attack, from what we know of their programming suggests they will try again with a larger fleet this time. Even though we can't find them I am sure they have a reserve fleet somewhere and are building more. It's very likely they will send a larger fleet for a bigger attack. We have to prepare." She said, reflecting upon notes she taken on the Cylons. They were somewhat predictable, if a small attacked worked, they would try a larger attack later on. Mostly within days up to a few weeks they would attempt. Yasn'rae studied the notes on the Cylons from Jha'dur she liked to analyze to programming to see what they are capable of. It was noted if they decided to take full advantage of their technology they would be a scary force to deal with. Now; the Dilgar could take good advantage of the technologies gained from the Cylons.

"I agree, if they attack once they will send another force again backed up by their damned Resurrection ships. If we can find them near an attack point we can destroy it and set their forces back. They only have one ship left from what I know of decrypted transmissions." Sha'dur stated.

"Plus the Hub and the Colony; the Cylons don't have many resources to build any more Resurrection ships. We have viral agents that will eat the Cylons organic technology. Designed by Jha'dur herself I may add." Gera'de added. He was the first to test the viral agents, deploying the missiles against several basestars and caused the virus to spread, crippling a large portion of the Cylon fleet in days.

"Good, we go there, me and Sha'dur will be there to watch and assist if needed. We wait for confirmation of an attack, while keeping our forces within FTL range. Once it happens, we jump in and take care of the rest. Its time we make use of our new ships."

"I will take a third of my fleet to assist you. Rest of my ships is under work orders for new engines and weapons." Sha'dur said. The Dilgar were mostly replacing ships in this sector with new weapons and technology reverse engineered from the League, and Kobolian civilizations.

"Any chance to track them back to the Colony; take it. It's our chance to cripple them beyond the point of no return. If we eliminate the Cylon issue, we can take care of the Colonies. We have Spectres there that once we give them the bioweapons the rest should be easy, we just sit back and wait as their populations and their military falls within months." Yasn'rae told the two Warmasters. They knew the Imperial Intelligence Arm was smart, ruthless, and cunning in its ways. They were made useful to winning many wars that were fought against the other species including minor ones in the League. Now they would head out, hopeful for a good victory against the Cylons.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Are we ready for jump?" A tall slightly older man with graying hair asked. Even with his age, he was still built well like a Pyramid player. He was Admiral Thomas Haines, fleet Admiral for Battlestar Group 81. He picked up his glasses and put them on, looking at his acting XO- Colonel Jarvis Mattude. They stood in the elegant CIC of the Battlestar Triton BSG 81. It was a beautiful Mercury Class Battlestar, with the best equipment available and better armor. The War Table had 3D representation of the Mercury and the ships around them. It even picked up planetary bodies including asteroids. He briefly looked at it then looked over at his navigation officer; Lieutenant Aaron Lansley a short fat officer from Aqualeron with a thick head of hair as the sunlight was fairly heavy on that world.

"We're ready Sir. All lanes around Picon are cleared." Lt. Lansley said.

"Go ahead and execute jump." He had ordered with his deep voice and accent which told the crew he was from Scorpia, even though he didn't share their traits for darker skin as he was from a noticeably colder area of the place from Artimenia which was in the Polar Regions. The navigation officer complied and told the computer to get the coordinates in. He turned the key that got the ship to jump and in a flash of light as the wormhole quickly formed around the ship deposited it inside the orbit around Picon.

"We're here. Our guests should be arriving shortly." Lt. Mandy Yillimer; the Communications Officer said. She was patched with the Phemos and the Ocean Queen; the Diplomatic Liner containing their guests. Adar was with the diplomats; a normal thing for Presidents to brief and consult with diplomats and diplomatic advisors.

"That's great I will be on the Ocean Queen with Adar. Colonel Mattude you're in charge of the ship." Admiral Haines told the younger XO who came from the Tactical Station when his current XO was on medical.

"Aye sir." He said as he moved to the front end of the War Table; the command position spot on Mercury's and other ships in the Colonial Fleet.

Admiral Thomas Haines walked out of the CIC's glass doors. He made his way through the corridors of the ship. Maintanence people were fixing some of the lighting and electronics relays on the ship after some issues were noted. He continued over to a docking port usually made for private entry rather than entry through one of the flight pods as typically done. All ships had small airlock ports when ships didn't need to go through the regular hanger bays.

He could see the visage of the Ocean Queen through a window by the airlock; it was a Luna Class Liner vessel, having luxurious rooms, cabins, even a dining facility that served the best meals anyone could cook up. It had an FTL drive and a colored hull outside which gave it the remarkable appearance as a luxury vessel and a professionally used ship. He opened the hatch and soon enough met the man he just needed to see. "President Adar; it's good to see you." Admiral Haines said as he snapped off a sharp salute. They shook hands and started to make their way toward a small office on the ship. Admiral Haines took notice of the interior; tables were placed with cup holders and plasma screens filled some of the rooms. Some were filled with luxurious beds and drink tables. It was a great ship; Diplomatic Liners normally had such luxurious compliments.

"It's good to see you here as well Admiral. We're going to see the diplomats in the Executive Room. Have you ever been on a Diplomatic Liner before?" Adar asked; having known this Admiral as well. Presidents and official Government Staff met with Admirals weekly and monthly. Admiral Haines had met Adar and other presidents many times before.

"Only in the museums sir; it feels pretty nice sitting in one now. So they are using this one for the mission?" Admiral Haines asked, he would have loved to sleep in the place too.

"Yeah, I like it too. It's been a while since I sat in one. I am going to have to see some more of them before my terms over. You're probably wondering why you're here right. Did you watch the recent news reports?" Adar asked.

"I did. I had a bit of trouble swallowing it myself. So we have aliens at our outer borders now? Were there any survivors?" Admiral Haines asked. He; like many other believed the Cylons to be fully responsible. He had advised past administrations to keep building up military forces.

"Just the Surveyors; several pilots and 800 civilians from the ship; that XO did a great job getting many as possible off that ship before Commander Keller nuked it to prevent them from having it. I couldn't believe it myself when I was told who attacked them. Well basically the reason why you are here is because we have been sending transmissions into Cylon space over the past several days trying to get them to contact us. We believed they may know something about the aliens since the Line dissolves into neutral space which is about a dozen light years from where the Mercury was attacked. It's a possible answer; and contacting the Cylons through peace envoys was the best possible solution." Adar said with some tension in his voice. Admiral Haines sensed he was praying hard it was the best option.

"So you want the Triton and the rest of my group to escort the Liner?" Admiral Haines asked.

"Yes, basically what is going on is the Phemos will shadow the Liner when she goes across the Line. If anything happens, or if the Cylons start jumping over the Line and become hostile, you can help them escape. Also, we want to prepare for the possibility that the aliens might be there as well. It was agreed that it would be a good idea to send peace envoys to the Cylons. The Quorum probably won't like it and neither will the People's Council, but something needs to be done other than political meddling so we have to do things under their noses then so be it. I do have authority to authorize and give out secret missions as much as you Admirals do." Adar snickered. Only President's, Chiefs of Staff, the War Secretary, and Admirals could authorize secret missions and to utilize the Colonial Shadow Forces and other special forces groups.

"I agree. Sometimes you just have to take steps a bit further. Some of my ships are under refit, but should be ready within the next several days. I can get some Captains temporary assignment to my command if necessary." Admiral Haines said.

"That's great." He said outside the door of the conference room. "We're ready. Let's go in." Adar said; opening the door to the Executive Room. Sitting at the wooden table were two people dressed in elegant suits. One was a thin lady, in long dark hair and brown eyes. Her face and prose suggested professionalism to the highest degree and she was prepared for anything. The second was a slightly older man, maybe in his forties. He had salt and pepper hair with blue eyes and a moderate build. He was drinking a cup of ice water and had his glasses lying on the table as well.

"Admiral I would like to introduce you to our diplomats. The lady sitting down is Samantha Shaffon, leading diplomat with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Diplomatic Corps. The man sitting next to him is Philip Jeras, lead assistant diplomat." Adar said, introducing the team to the Admiral. They all shook hands and started to sit down. "Basically I would like to overview the mission with you. This is a highly classified operation I am authorizing myself. It has been decided amongst me and others that it is a good idea to start sending peace envoys into Cylon space; instead of simply using the Armistice Station's officers to wait for the Cylons to arrive. Hopefully what we will do is get them to talk to us. Samantha and Philip will have the pilots broadcast a signal once across the Armistice Line signaling peaceful intentions. Your ship will have its FTL Drives spooled at all times so that if there is any hostile action, you can jump out of there. The Phemos will be shadowing your ship. It's a stealth ship, undetectable by all forms of DRADIS and other sensors. If there is no answer at first, the Phemos will scout the star systems across the Line in an effort to find the Cylons. If you encounter the aliens or other hostiles, then you are to jump back to the Triton. Admiral Haines will provide you with everything else. He will take the mission from here." Adar said, keeping the speech short and to the point.

"Thank you Mr. President. My Fleet will be nearby. I will let my communications officers know that your ship has a direct line to me. If there are any questions or issues; I can handle them. You will also have a line to the Phemos. They have better sensors and will be able to tell if something is wrong. Do you two have any questions?"

Philip and Samantha looked at each other and conversed for a brief moment. "We don't." They responded.

"Good then. The first trip will happen in three days; good luck."

Baseship Construction Yard- Salvation System

Diana looked out the observation window of the Baseship 03 that had come off of the production lines. The Cylons had managed to reverse engineer some of the energy weapons the Dilgar used and had even placed them on the Baseships being constructed. The construction yards were in an asteroid field orbiting the Binary star system the Cylons had designated as Salvation as it was the only production facility still available for use and was reactivated after the war started with the Dilgar. Many of these Baseships as well as fleets of the older Raiders now equipped with FTL drives patrolled near the Baseships. These new types of Baseships were different than the others and were from the new line of ship known as the Brimestone Class Baseship.

The Colony still orbited the black hole many light years away; both systems were a hundred light years away from the Dilgar and the Colonials; the Cylons being very thankful their FTL drives had longer ranges due to their computers. These baseships were the same shape and type as the old ones; the Hades Class, but had better armor, weapons, and a better compliment of Centurions and Raiders. The Cylons had their mothballed ships and Centurions; all were reactivated and were taking to patrol duties in the Salvation system.

In some places around the expansive construction yards the remains of Dilgar warships hung there; being examined by Centurions and other Cylons, looking for ways of reverse engineering their technology and weaknesses. The Cylons did score some victories against the Dilgar, captured a few ships, and even interrogated some of the crew but it did little to stem the tide. Their ships were too numerous and their technology was too advanced for the Cylons. Dilgar plasma weapons were extremely effective against the organic Brightstar Class baseships the Cylons used in limited numbers. At least the Cavil and Simon models were smart enough to try a change in tactics.

A long prism shaped ship floated in the distance. It was the Resurrection Ship, the only one that remained. It would be held a few light years in deep space from where the battle would take place. A major Dilgar base was in the system the Cylons had shared the Colonial designation of G58RN, the Dilgar had called it Allarkarla, after a city in their data banks which had been translated; it was a major system, having a starbase, a planetary colony, and mining stations all mostly orbiting the colony world and its small moon. Cavil had said if this base gets destroyed then it will set the Dilgar back and hopefully force a retreat. It was of very strategic importance to the Dilgar. There were more asteroid mining facilities in belts further out from the planet.

Diana hoped that would be the case but she had doubts in her mind. Cavil's behavior became ever more erratic as the years passed and Anna said she had seen something strange in the command center where Cavil always resided. She couldn't see it directly but always caught a small glimpse of something dark and felt its influence. It terrified her to the point she refused to go into the room. It would explain why the Centurions never walked back in as Cavil had all Centurions positioned outside the rooms.

Diana walked over to the Command and Control Station that normally was deep within the hull of the Baseship as with the older models. It had the datastream and computer consoles the human models could attach themselves too in order to better coordinate attacks with other Baseships. The halls were grey metal and dull so she projected the image of a woodland forest to calm her and to help her focus. She played a musical tune; a soft mellow tone that was played in STO religious ceremonies and in the background music of many churches that resided in particular areas of Gemenon that didn't care about monotheism.

"Diana!" She heard a voice yell. It was Leoban, one of the Number Two models. "We're almost ready, the rest of the ships have joined us." He said to her; he was in a sense wirelessly linked to the other Cylons through the Datastream and its mental wireless projections through the walls.

"Good." She said trying to be confident. Leoban could hear the doubt in her voice nonetheless. "Did our scouts come back?" Diana had asked.

"They did, the patrols are elsewhere and there are a small number of ships near the base. The time is good to attack now." Leoban said. He seemed to have more confidence, but she knew he also had his doubts about Cavil. There were only a few of each human model left now and it made everyone tense. Lots of them died without Resurrection Ships in range or were destroyed already; making their losses harder to take without breaking down. For firsts humanoid Cylons were starting to commit suicide and break programming. However she and others accepted the fact that they were more like humanity than Cavil would like to think.

"Okay I shall be in the Command and Control Station." Diana replied to him. The CCS was standard on all Baseships, the Colony, and the Ressurrection Vessels. There Cylons could link up with the V-World and communicate with other ships and use sensors. They could tell raiders where to attack, scout, or set them on AI autopilot.

There a great many Baseships, all of the older variety and packed to the teeth. They hoped to use the sheer number of Raiders to destroy the base and remaining ships in the system then jump out to systems not accessible through hyperspace and turn off the Tachyon transceivers the Dilgar were always able to track and follow.

She played a musical tune in her mind; some Cylons could hear music naturally, as their thoughts drifted. It was a strange sensation to them; it brought some models closer and seemed to be a step up. Sometimes after a resurrection process music was heard inexplicably. It sounded to them like a soft echo of a violin; sometimes piano music that seemed to play through a void. She didn't hear it naturally, but Anna does. Diana uses music sometimes as part of the projection process.

Diana connected herself with the ships computers, creating a linkage with the other models in the ships. She felt her mind expand and was able to touch electronically each and every single Raider, ship, and Centurion and could feel the thoughts of the other models in the system as they were interfaced with the computers. She felt the others ask her when the jump was ready and she told them it was soon.

She ran her mind through the diagnostic systems, checking off everything. FTL was green, weapons were green, gravitic and fusion engines were green. She read the same readouts across every other ship in her fleet including the Resurrection Ship. She told the models of several baseships and raiders to escort the Resurrection Ship and to keep it protected while it was at near maximum range for the Resurrection Process. She had wished she could use the newer Supernova Class Baseships to escort the Resurrection ships but only two of them had come across the production lines. They were solely designed to counter heavier Dilgar ships and small fleets, and were packed to the teeth. They were the equivalent of the Cylon Dreadnoughts of old; one of which survived and is now a part of a three system empire farming humans for cybernetic merging.

Diana then canceled the tachyon communications link to the Colony and the Hub, that way if the Dilgar had their notorious tracking ELINT ships, they would not be able to find the Colony. It would be difficult anyway, but the Dilgar used special missiles to deliver biological agents that affected organic baseships and the humanform Cylons. She prayed that Cavil and Simon's project to create a Dilgarform Cylon worked so they could send them in the field to infiltrate and learn even more secrets, and later on cripple them from within. According to Cavil the project was still very far away.

None of these ships used Hybrids; only a couple hundred were built for the same number of baseships, and the number of organic Brightstar Baseships now was a mere ten as the Dilgar killed off most of the Cylons in just a few years. Their races still teetered on the edge of extinction and were still going to fight for survival.

All communications between their group and the Colony were now cut. She knew that back at the Colony they had to know the group was readying for jump to the Dilgar military base. That was their cue the attack was going to begin. She told all of the ships to spool up their FTL drives. She felt the whirring sensation in her mind as the spatial energies began forming up. She saw a countdown in her mind's eye of the clock.

5…4….3…..2….1…..

She felt everything stop for a brief second as her mind was nowhere and everywhere at the same time. She felt the energy in and around her shift as her fleet made the jump and felt the connection to the Resurrection Ship form once they jumped to the deep space coordinates. Quickly she picked herself up and looked at the DRADIS in her thoughts. The scouts were correct; a Dilgar Vahas Class Starbase hung above a black rocky moon orbiting a green planet. The DRADIS detected many settlements; all will soon burn under the nuclear missiles of the Cylons and their ships.

"GO!" She yelled in her thoughts as hundreds of raiders stormed toward the starbase and other military vessels. She kept her communications tightly linked together as her mind raced. The Starbase launched its own compliment of Thorun Dartfighters, as she was able to look at footage coming in from gun cameras active on the Baseships and Raiders. They all launched their missiles and she watched as their streaked toward the starbase. The starbase itself was large over five miles tall and a mile wide with arms stretching out long as three miles across. It was armed to the teeth. She was glad they were caught completely by surprise.

A pentacan formed by a Dilgar Heavy Cruiser, their ugly hulls visible. It advanced toward Anna's Baseship as her heavy railguns fired hard slamming rounds into the weaker Dilgar hulls. Diana was soon proud of the fact that some of the Dilgar technology recovered improved their railguns and batteries; making them fire faster and heavier rounds that could travel a significant fraction of lightspeed.

She witnessed tracer rounds sometimes go completely through the Dilgar warships before exploding a distance later. She had most of them explode on contract as the Cylons made theirs like their Colonial counterparts; often with high explosive rounds and such. Sometimes even nuclear munitions were used but they were waiting on production of those at the same system the baseships were being made.

Flurries of the organic and old era Raiders fought it off with the Thoruns, enhanced gravitic drives were installed on the Raiders giving them an edge closer to the Thoruns performance specs. Smaller energy weapons to replace the cannons were on their way. Larger bolter cannons on the Baseships were already striking at some of the larger ships including ships docked at the Starbase. Some of the docked ships started to break dock and come toward her fleet, which was already in two parts; one was heading toward the Starbase, and the other heading toward the Dilgar colony below. Many of the missiles now impacted squadrons of Dilgar Thoruns; taking many of them out.

The remaining missiles now streamed to one of the arms of the starbase. The first two nuclear missiles impacted upon a Garaschoch Heavy Carrier; detonating with a brilliant flash of light as two miniature suns were made in the aftermath. Debris; kicked off from the detonation impacted the arm and the armor of the central portion of the starbase causing deep holes and globular signatures of fire. Diana was pleased with the results. She switched her mind to three organic raiders and told them to jump. These raiders of the Scimitar Class were armed with nukes and she needed them to punch a hole in the Starbase.

The raiders jumped to deep space and after a few seconds jumped closer to the Starbase; evading the Thorun fighters and leaving many of them in the dust. She ordered them all to arm their missiles and fire at the Starbase's central structure. The missiles launched and started their streak toward the central structure. Dilgar interceptors fired; hitting some of the missiles leaving three to detonate; one on the central, and the other two on the top portion she looked away and at the planet where the other battle was raging…..

….Then looked back once she knew the flashes were gone. The starbase was burning; debris was hitting the moon it orbited and some started off in many different directions. She could hear all of the models start to cheer as it was destroyed. One of the first major victories in years; one of which she could use later on. Maybe she shouldn't doubt Cavil after all.

She switched her mind to the saucer separation sequence; these newer version of the old Baseships were equipped with a feature similar to the organic Baseships; and that was to separate the two sections completely, creating two separate saucers. "No" she thought quietly to herself. There weren't enough ships for her fleet to bother combating in order to separate the sections. She would hope if it came to be, make it seem the Cylons have just doubled their numbers, giving them an advantage. Both sections had their individual FTL drives, Command and Control Stations, engineering, and all other stations needed for operation. Another Six was at the other CCS ready to take command at any moment. Everyone around her still cheered in the woodland generated in the back of her mind.

Those thoughts; though they may have touched many Cylons that day, didn't last long.

Her mind screamed in a blare. She looked at the alarm that flashed, hundreds of FTL signatures suddenly appeared near the two fleets of Baseships. "It cannot frakking be!" She screamed to herself as she realized the FTL signatures were from Dilgar ships. A whole frakking Strike Fleet and a half just jumped on top of the Baseship fleet. On the eve of possible victory?

"Join us and engage the Dilgar fleet!" She screamed toward the other Cylons. They were moving toward her but not quickly enough. "Separate all saucer sections NOW!" She yelled at the other Baseships through her tachyon linked network.

The center of all Baseships quickly twisted and turned like a corkscrew. Portions of the walls and hulls collapsed inward slowly as jets of compressed air separated each saucer from the other. Conventional plasma engines shot out directing each section toward a different ship in the new fleet that jumped in. All ships started to exchange fire, lasers and plasma fire filled the vacuum of space in between the ships. Several large Dilgar cruisers fell under the heavy fire of the Cylon Baseships.

She saw several green dots flicker then vanish on the DRADIS playing in her mind. She knew it was some of the Baseships dying but she knew the Cylons were resurrecting to the ship many light years away. Many Dilgar ships continued to fall as some of the Raiders made suicide dives into their hulls, hitting critical sections and tearing through the armor. She had identified two Dreadnoughts, Mishakur Class. She knew who they belonged to; the notorious Gera'de and Sha'dur. She hated with passion the latter as he was the brother of the one who poisoned their fleets with viruses and bioweapons. She wanted to have Jha'durs head on a pike before her brother to torture him.

Diana stared at the red blips which represented the Dilgar warships and their classifications. All of a sudden four Dilgar ELINT ships vanished off of the DRADIS and jumped away. "What the Frak?" She thought to herself. She thought maybe the Dilgar didn't want their ELINT ships to stay for a long time and become potential combat losses. More ships then jumped a few dozen. Not a very large portion at all. Then the sickening realization dawned on her.

"The Resurrection Ship!" It hit her. She threw jump coordinates to the other ships. "JUMP!" She screamed out in fear…

…..The remaining Cylon ships reappered as the Baseships were dealing blows with the Dilgar fleet that had jumped. Other raiders jumped and started to make a dive at the Dilgar fleet, as Thoruns started going at the Ressurrection ship. "Take them out take them down!" She yelled reaching out toward the raiders.

Unforunately the Thoruns were faster. Blue bolts of plasma struck the Resurrection ship, melting the metals holding it up, sending humanform Cylons into the deadly vacuum of space and burning up in the plasma globe fires that started to consume the ship. All the Cylons could only watch in utter horror as their Resurrection ship began to break apart, and then explode right before their very eyes. Diana felt her heart sink deeply in her chest as burning visages of other Cylons floated throughout space.

She heard the other Cylons commanding other baseships screaming in utter horror and terror as their last best hope for survival lay in ruins. She knew what happened; the Dilgar were able to find a way to track the Resurrection Downloads.

She forced herself to get back to the battle or what was left of it. Many more ships were jumping in now so she told everyone to jump to the emergency coordinates and pray that they weren't being tracked. She felt the same drifting sensation as what was left of her fleet had jumped again. She told them to keep their FTL drives spooled up as she attempted to remain calm.

She waited tensely as the minutes passed when everyone was asking questions. When it became clear that the Dilgar weren't going to show up she disconnected herself from the datastream and collapsed partially on a table her hand over her eyes focusing on keeping herself together.

"That motherfrakking bastard Cavil! He led us straight into a frakking deathtrap!" Screamed Sharon as she burst into the Command and Control room in tears, seeing their last beacon of survival go up in flames.

Diana stayed silent as Sharon slammed her fists repeatedly into the table. She could only watch as Sharon's emotional state deteriorated very quickly in the hours of the battle. Finally Diana summed the mental and physical will and ran to Sharon, grabbing her and slamming her against the wall.

"Get a frakking hold of yourself! We may have lost the Ressurrection Ship but we're still frakking alive dammit. Screaming is not going to help us in this situation!" Diana yelled in fury.

"But they are going to come for us Diana! Its frakking over for us….." Sharon's words were stopped short by a strong backhand to the face. Sharon felt the painful stinging sensation and fell to the floor hard as Diana stood up and watched in anger. Sharon slowly picked herself up off the floor and used the table as balance, her emotions somewhat contained now. "I am sorry but this is too much to handle."

"You are forgiven. I need a damn status report now!" Diana said strongly.

"We lost most of our fleet, most of the Raiders are destroyed and 24 baseships were lost after we did saucer separation with all of them. Cavil won't be too happy with us."

"What was the status of the mission, did we at least do something?"

"Well we destroyed the Starbase; many mining station and a could shipyards. Most of their settlements on the planet were wiped out. We may have lost but at least the bastards paid a big price." Sharon said coming to her senses.

"Well that begs the question; do we go to Cavil with our losses or do we try to seek help with the Colonials?" Diana asked, she knew the Ressurrection ship was important and Cavil just wouldn't accept the loss of that ship. He wouldn't sacrifice the Hub either and it would take years to create more Resurrection Ships.

"When Cavil finds out we lost the Resurrection Ship he will box us all there is no point in going back we should stay and fix up our ships while we still can I will think about this then let you know." Sharon said, thinking deeply.

Diana knew she was right; but was glad Sharon could see the erroneous ways of the guy they were supposed to trust and follow.

Dilgar Dreadnought Victory- Allakaris System

Gera'de slouched back in his captain's chair, watching the replay of the battle that had transpired at the system, and later at the Resurrection Ship. He smiled as he saw the Thoruns from his carriers lay waste to the ship, disabling its FTL drives and burning those onboard with a hail of plasma fire and missiles. He looked over at Sha'dur and Yasn'rae.

"Well Gera'de you did it, you destroyed their last Resurrection Ship; that was a good tactic to use. I would never have thought to use the ELINT ships to track the Resurrection process they used." Yasn'rae said proudly and smiling at some of their larger success.

"But we were too late; we lost that colony, the starbase, and most of the mining stations. We are going to be set back a while with this loss. Is this not a failure still?" Gera'de asked, questioning himself somewhat.

"And those losses are easily replaced. Those lives sacrificed themselves Gera'de to pave the way for more Dilgar expansion. We take our losses and learn from them. Not every battle will be won but we did certainly even out the odds. I am proud of your thinking though to track the Ressurection downloads of their humanoid models. Now they have no Ressurrection ships left and wont attack us anymore until their forces are built back up; but now we can find them and destroy them." Sha'dur boasted, still proud of the Warmaster.

"I am still pleased though Warmaster Gera'de. You took out most of their fleet and even took out their last hope. They will barely even be able to recover emotionally from the impact of seeing their own salvation burn before their eyes." Yasn'rae said coldly.

"Well everything else we need can go ahead now. I will start sending ELINT ships rimward to look for the Cylons with the new sensor and tracking technology to even find trace tachyon signals. I am confident I can take things from here." Gera'de said bringing himself and his confidence back to him and in front of the Warmaster and the IIA Officer.

"Good, I shall head back to Kobol for other business matters and to wait for my sister to arrive. I am going to issue a standing order that for each and every single ship; if they ever encounter a Colonial vessel, they are to contact me or Yasn'rae. If my sister is here they will contact her, I plan on solving the Colonial problem diplomatically." Sha'dur said with Yasn'rae in the background walking back to the shuttle to Sha'durs flagship.

"I will do that." Warmaster Gera'de said saluting the Warmaster in charge of the sector.

Wisterabb Warehouse- Near Hypathia, Tauron

Fleet Criminal Investigative Service junior field agent Sarah Vidda looked through her binoculars toward a darkened warehouse where a black truck was parked. She watched closely as two men were standing near the truck appearing to wait for someone. One was dressed in a red sweatshirt with black pants and gym shoes. He had his hood raised over his head partially disguising his haircut but she could tell it was a short buzz. The other guy was a younger man, tougher build and wore a black jacket with shorts. He had slightly longer hair and was closer to the entrance. They have been watching the warehouse for a few days, it was owned by Wisterabb Corporation, a simple storage company but fell into disuse over the years but was never torn down by the company. It still bore the large "**Wisterabb Liquidation and Storage Outlet**" sign on top of it. Recently FCIS has placed some bugs in the building, tiny sensors designed to look like dead insects that could pick up sounds and video. All investigative agencies utilized state-of-the-art technologies used for spying and infiltrating rouge groups.

She had informed her supervisor; Agent Jethroy Tibbs that the two men were waiting for someone; soon enough a large white van pulled up toward the building and the men moved toward it. The driver stepped out and Sarah could see through her scope that he had a gun on him and was carrying a briefcase. He was dressed in a sports jacket and was bald. He was taller than the other and carried a stance that showed others he meant business. His skin was really light which told her he could be a Canceron man. She relayed the information to them while they waited in a parked van next to another building. The two men were identified as possible Saggitaron Liberation Front members.

"Hey boss, the men are going into the building." She said touching her earpiece.

"Good; I'm turning on the bugs now." Agent Tibbs said signaling Agent Geeman to turn on his laptop. He put on his headphones so he could listen in to their conversations while watching the video. The video was black and white, and he could clearly see the men talking and the taller man opening up a briefcase that was empty.

"So in those cases are the weapons right?" The red shirted man asked. He spoke in a somewhat thick Saggitaron accent; it led more circumstantial credence to them being members of the SLF.

"Yes, you are welcome to look." The bald man said watching the other two from the SLF pick up the weapons and chambered a round then ejected it.

"Holy frak where did you get this shit from?" The dark jacketed man asked to him, curious as to where he got high grade military weapons from.

"Don't worry about where I got it; just know that it's yours now and I am ready to take my payment." The bald man said; hoping to leave soon.

"How much?" The red shirted guy asked.

"What it was originally; ten thousand cubits nothing more or less." The bald man said. His price was normally reasonable for black market values. A few weapons sold; if it was more he would have simply charged more or depending on how hard the other arms dealer got it from his sources.

"You have a deal; just put all the money in the case and I will be on my way. I have other business I must attend to." The bald man said. It told Agent Geeman that he might have other clients to visit. As soon as the money went into the briefcase that made for the agents cue. Agent Geeman and Agent Tibbs got up and made their way to the side entrance of the warehouse. Sarah could see agents Tibbs and Geeman take positions near the side of the building. One armed a flash grenade designed to blind and confuses anyone near the blast area. It worked greatly in many situations. Agent Tibbs threw the grenade while Agent Geeman primed a rubber pellet grenade designed to incapacitate subjects non-lethally.

The primary mission of the Fleet Criminal Investigative Service was to protect the interests of the Colonial Fleet as well as assist its counterpart, MCCID (Marine Corps Criminal Investigation Division) in investigating all cases felony and above in the Colonial Forces. They also investigated any and all instances of esponiage, or any criminal act that could potentially be directed at the Colonial Forces or its interests. They were known to work closely with the Colonial Intelligence Division in infiltrating and apprehending the various militia, terrorist, and independence groups that used violence as a part of their plan. Deploying thousands of field agents and investigators; they have investigated multitudes of crimes and solved roughly the same amount and caught even more fugitives wanted by Colonial Law Enforcement.

This case was different. Recently; Agent Thomas Nizzo was infiltrating the Free Lightning, as there was some suspicion that the crew was engaging in smuggling activities of Cylon technology, weapons, and possibility of nuclear material to arms dealers who in turn sell the stuff to various anti-Colonial groups and make their money off of the proliferation of arms and illegal goods. Recently he would send reports of unusual activity going on between Thomas Zarek and an individual known as Hilis; who didn't match anyone in any database and has no relation to anyone in the 12 Colonies which was not an issue as the Colonies had close to 32 Billion population total, it was that he seemed to be keeping the technology for an unknown purpose.

Now, there was a known arms dealer part of a ring helping smuggle goods from Tauron to worlds with known breeding grounds for militia groups such as Saggitaron and Gemenon. This one in particular has been suspected to deal with the SLF, as Zarek was technically one of the top members of that group, having the group conduct numerous bombings and assassination attempts against Colonial Government Officials.

Sarah continued to watch the entrance as Agents Tibbs and Geeman ran into the building; weapons drawn and ordering everyone to the ground. The door to the Warehouse opened up and the bald man came running out through the smoke. "Got you!" Sarah said as he put one bullet right in the leg; incapacitating him. He reached and pulled out a handgun from underneath his sports jacket but she aimed another shot at the gun and fired. The bullet traveled and struck the gun in the middle where the chamber was and broke it in three places. His hand started to bleed as the metal parts cut deep into his skin. He was already on the ground yelling in pain.

"I got the man in the suit." Agent Vidda said happy she took the guy down.

"Good, get an ambulance to pick him up and take him to the hospital. Have other agents put him in protective custody." Agent Tibbs said.

Meanwhile; inside the building, Agent Tibbs and Agent Geeman had the two other men on the ground and in handcuffs. The flash also released an airborne chemical which caused the two men to cough and gag, and lose their breath as they struggled to breathe.

"What the frak man we didn't do nothing wrong!" One of them yelled.

"Did you think you could buy those illegal weapons without someone finding out, your little ring is being busted up; who are the others you work for?"

"We're not working for any frakking arms dealers or militias you got the wrong frakking people!" One of the guys yelled again. No one ever mentioned militias so to the agents it was good information.

"You can explain that to the judge; you're under arrest buying illegal arms and for conspiracy to commit terrorist acts, and you can frak your rights because you don't have any now far as we're concerned." Agent Biggens said. When someone got arrested by any federal law enforcement, their rights were pretty much null and void if they were caught in activities against the Colonial Government or the Colonial Forces which these guys now were busted doing. Any arms deals to militant type organizations were considered to be activities against the Government and the 12 Colonies at large.

Meanwhile, Sarah Vidda put away her sniper rifle in the case and walked out toward the main entrance as Agents Tibbs and Geeman walked out. She called for a medical transport vehicle to take the injured man to the hospital where the agents could later on interrogate him and put him in protective care.

"Good job Agent Vidda nice job on the leg-shots." Agent tibbs said to her giving congratulations. Agent Sarah Vidda used to be a Casaden City Police Officer on Tauron serving in their Special Operations section. Sarah; a Tauron native her family used to be involved with the Ha'la'tha before their downfall so they all knew how to fight and shoot. She decided to use her sharpshooting skills she learned from her father to assist law enforcement in capturing criminals and wanted fugitives. She decided to join full force on FCIS after the police department assigned her a liaison position to coordinate efforts together with other departments. After performing well above standards in that field; Agent Tibbs offered her a full position which she proudly accepted.

She knew Agent Tibbs for a long time. He used to serve in the Colonial Forces Marine Corps as a sniper before deciding to take a position up with CFIS. He was in operation StrikeDown and operation Sweeper before his term was up. He served with CFIS for several years before being promoted to Supervisory Special Agent just a few years ago; taking charge of the current team he had today. He was known for his ability to get subjects to talk; gaining valuable information which helped his team capture the most notorious of criminals and made sure justice was served fast and quick.

Agent Geeman was a junior field agent; he came from an analyst position with the Delena Police Department on Scorpia. He was known for his expert computer and tracing skills. He could decode any type of computer and has even worked on projects with Dr. Gaius Baltar in the past. He was a valuable agent. He was instrumental in gaining information on this meeting they busted as he intercepted communications between the arms dealers and people from known militia groups. He has worked overtime lately to uncover communications between the arms dealer and another individual on Tauron who goes by the name of Jerry Alaxis who seemed to be in communication between Hilis on the Free Lightning. He was working on uncovering who both people were and who they worked for.

They took him quickly to the headquarters where they placed him in the interrogation room after the dealer was booked and was properly ID'ed. Agent Geeman was going to process all of the information at his desk to find links between them and other groups or people. They all knew soon he would find something useful.

Agent Jethroy Tibbs got the name of the first man, the guy in the red sweatshirt known as Alfred Rikkel. He read his rap sheet and noticed he was convicted of robbery and grand larceny. Just the man who would commit to an arms dealing ring he thought to himself. "Good job Agent Geeman." He said pleased with the progress of the junior field agent. Hopefully the information he has will help with the next case, the one to see if the crew of the Lightning are obtaining Cylon technology and weapons from old sites and selling it.

Agent Tibbs walked over to the interrogation room; only stopping to get a drink before he decided to open the door. The interrogation room was designed like typical others, dull colored walls, a desk, and a couple chairs one facing the direction of a mirror with a room on the other side where Agent Geeman oversaw the interrogation take place. The subject looked at Agent Biggens intensely, showing the emotion of nervousness. It was apparent to Jethroy that the subject was not been caught doing this one before. He sat down and handed Alfred several photos; showing the contents of the boxes that were carried into the warehouse. One of which showed a picture of high powered SOCTAL Arms SOA2 Rifle, used and carried by Centurions during the First Cylon War. It could be switched to sniper mode and had documented kills of targets two miles away. It made for an excellent weapon of assassination.

"So what were you doing buying illegal weapons?" Agent Tibbs asked setting his coffee on the table.

"I wasn't buying anything; I didn't know what was in those boxes." The red shirted man said.

"What did you think you were buying; video games!" Agent Tibbs yelled. "Who was that man selling you the weapons?" Agent Tibbs asked again, showing pictures from the video where he clearly bought the weapons and even played the audio recording. "You know; working for a known terrorist organization makes you an enemy combatant of the Twelve Colonies and that carries quite a harsh punishment. You should really consider your options when talking to me because I can either make your life better, or I can make it a hell of a lot worse. You better start talking; final chance." He said, having the final straw with the subject.

"Okay; the guy was a dealer. I asked him myself where he got the weapons and he told me it didn't matter; my partner knew him more than I did I'm just a frakking rookie I know nothing else. He knows more than I do." Alfred said. He was only a rookie and has never been told what to do in situations like this. He heard of the stuff that went on in Colonial prisons and he didn't want to face it.

Agent Tibbs didn't say anything as he picked up the folder and placed the pictures in there and walked out of the interrogation room; satisfied with the results. He walked down the hallway passing a group of pictures of FCIS Most Wanted with two of the pictures having a red slash with "C" imprinted on them which told them the people were captured. "K" stood for killed or executed. He walked down the stairs and into the office area where agents were busy working.

"Anybody have anything for me?" Agent Tibbs asked his team.

"Yes I do boss!" Agent Geeman stood up and yelled. He grabbed a remote and an image of the bald man flashed on the screen. This man that Agent Vidda shot has been identified as Ramsef Ulluk, he is a Canceron native who was arrested at Verasme, Virgon three years ago for possession of drugs but all he did was serve a year in prison and year probation. He was suspected of arms dealing but no evidence until now."

"Any connection with the Lightning or that Jerry Alaxis guy?" Tibbs asked. He hoped to get answers soon.

"No boss, Agent Nizzo sent a communiqué about an arms dealer named Randy but there is none in this guy's phone or known personal connections. He did have the contact number for the Captain of the Lightning; Captain Harold Kloder but we would need to interrogate him at the hospital to find out more information."

"When is the Lightning due back to Tauron?" Tibbs asked, he hoped that when the Lightning came back he could find out who Randy was and in turn find out who Jerry Alaxis really is.

"According to their schedule they will be back next week at the freight firm which is located on Hypathia Aerospace Center. Agent Nizzo will send us a full report on what he has seen there once he steps off." Agent Geeman said.

"Good, you and Agent Vidda head to the hospital and give the arms dealer a visit. Try to find out how much he knows about the Captain and if he knows about that Randy guy. Give me a call once you get the full name of this Randy fellow." Agent Tibbs said as the agents were quickly out the door. He soon sat back down at his desk and started looking through training paperwork. He had heard that the Colonial Intelligence Division was sending one of theirs to him for his first on the job assignment working with another agency, it was normal training they do to enhance cooperation among the various investigative agencies in the Colonies. Inter-agency was very common and needed. He felt familiarity with the last name of the agent and put it in the drawer.

Virginis Station- Command Conference Room

Admiral Corman sat at the table of the Command Conference Room on Virginis Station. The CCM was mostly used for official business purposes with the higher ranking military forces, civilian leadership command staff of the station itself. He lifted his briefcase and withdrew several documents from it, documents which were going to Major Quae Leslo and Colonel Allen Bell. Major Leslo was already up and doing regular workouts in one of the gyms while Colonel Bell was talking to FID and going through gun camera and black box data. The secretary told him that the Colonel would be done shortly and would meet up with him soon.

He had talked to Admirals Nagala and Cain recently. Nagala headed the 7th Fleet and had requested Adama to be under his command. He just needed to sign the paper and it would go through. Some of the ships under Battlestar Group 75 were in Cain's group and were being transferred back to Adama once their training runs have ended.

Battlestar Group 55 under Admiral Nagala finished their training exercises at the Smallmoth Range in the Ragnorak System, a system known for its training centers and combat run areas. It was a mostly military run system; experimental ships were tested and construction facilities for military ships were expansive. His fleet was now in its home system of Virgon on a shore and rest leave for a couple weeks before deploying again coreward to help defend the colonies and outposts near where the aliens borders could possibly be.

The hatch opened and Major Leslo and Colonel Bell both walked into the room, wearing the Colonial PT uniform. They both stood at attention and Admiral Corman told them to have a seat at the table. "You two should take a good look at these orders. Let me know if you have any questions." Admiral Corman said handing out the papers to the two men.

"We're being transferred to the Triton?" Both asked surprised they were being assigned together instead of apart.

"Yep Colonel Bell, you will be replacing their Executive Officer Erik Layton and Major Leslo; you will be replacing their CAG as well. With a situation like this both of you serving together will help Admiral Haines a lot." Corman said.

"What happened to Erik?" Colonel Bell asked. He remembered Erik long ago during a series of training missions at Delphis. Erik was Colonel Bell's CO a couple years back as well.

"Commander Layton suffered an accident at home and Major Ansley has taken a command position with the Gunstar Mirias. You are looking for a good promotion for Commander soon I'm trying to get it through. I knew Admiral Haines personally; he is a damn good officer and a good man. You all will work great together." Admiral Corman said to both of them. Admiral Haines was in charge of the Colonial 5th Fleet, having risen up through the ranks after he completed Colonial Fleet OTS. He took deployments to Carila and Derton to deal with various militia groups that tried to use the small newly formed colonies as training and recruiting grounds for militiamen and terrorists.

"That's awful to hear about the accident. I was under Commander Layton a few years back he was a good Commander." Colonel Bell said.

"He was a good Commander; hell I got his frakking ass to the post. He had a few more years till retirement." Corman said laughing somewhat.

"Looks like no one is retiring now with an alien invasion looming." Major Leslo quipped. That got laughter from the Admiral and the Colonel.

"Frak not even my sorry ass is retiring. Ill be staying in for a few more years dealing with paperwork." Admiral Corman said jokingly.

"We're all in it for the long haul boy's time to roll." Colonel Bell said, quoting the words of Commander Keller during a training mission long ago.

"You guys are great." Admiral Corman laughed. "You two will report to the Triton in one week. You will be briefed here on their mission now and released to Admiral Haines." Corman said to them.

"By the way; what's the status of the other pilots?" Major Leslo asked.

"Well it looks like most of them will be sent home and be medically discharged; but I'm sure we can find something for them; they fought and served well so we owe them something. They all are like you; wanting to continue the fight. I hope we can grant them their wishes." Corman said with hope and vigor.

"I hope so to those were some great frakking pilots that flew under me." Major Leslo said. He was proud of his pilots; they trained and flew daily, using laser sensors to have mock dogfights amongst one another. Major Leslo hoped that onboard the Triton he could get the pilots used to his routine of continuous training.

"They were, sad to seem them go like that, I enjoyed my times with them like everyone else. We will have good pilots under you Major. Admiral do you have anything else for us" Colonel Bell asked.

"Other than that the Gunstar Valiance will be here to pick you two up I have nothing else. You two are dismissed." Admiral Corman said.

"Thank you Admiral." Colonel Bell said standing up and snapping off a sharp salute.

"No, thank you." The Admiral said; smiling and returning the salute.

Caprica City, Caprica- Laura Roslins Home

Laura Roslin sat at the bar area of her home watching the news. Caprica Seven News was already showing repeats of Adar's speech and released clips detailing the Mercury's destruction. Funeral services were held for Commander Keller and other crew on the Mercury at the time of the destruction, watched by many of the 32 Billion citizens of the Twelve Colonies and other minor colonies. Commander Kellers image flared at the bottom of the screen as he was being hailed a hero.

Since the disastrous first contact; there was some upheaval across the Twelve Colonies. Very religious Gemeonese and Saggitaron groups rioted, more people attended Temple services, and several protests occurred by fringe conspiracy groups saying that a fake alien invasion was on its way so the government could impose martial law on the Colonies. No one really listened to those groups; most of their members were committed in mental asylums several times throughout the years and ignored. She felt since the Colonials have already found very alien flora and fauna on other worlds, a civilization that was not human wasn't out of the question.

Adar thanked her for the suggestion of peace envoys across the Armistice Line to contact the Cylons. She herself believed they were building up forces, but she felt that the silence from them was strange given the fact that an alien civilization was possibly expanding its borders ever closer to the homeworlds and the area where they were encountered was only light years from the Armistice Line. She had been able to focus on her career as Secretary of Education since Adar had been too busy dealing with the current situation. She managed to get the teacher's strikes to end and approved funding for more universities across the Colonies including the Helios Advanced Science Academy in the system of the same name.

It had flashed on the news that evidence for the existence of the mythical homeworld of Kobol was proven to exist as an ancient artifact was discovered in the system where the Mercury was attacked. The artifact was dated to be a few thousand years old; way older than even the earliest Colonial satellites and used technology ahead of Colonial science. Religious scholars and scientists were debating if the aliens had came across the remnants of a vast empire that the Sacred Scrolls said the Twelve Tribes of Kobol had long ago.

Laura got up to pour herself coffee in her mug. She put her creamer in it as she enjoyed the taste of it with creamer and sugar. She gently stirred it; the white streams of the creamer creating a whirlpool effect. She became soon fixated on it; the swirls taking shape and strange form…

…And found herself standing on a highway looking toward the distant but noticeable towers of a city. She recognized it as Pilos; a city she lived in when she dated Chris here on Caprica. "What the frak?" She asked herself stunned by the scenery as she looked around. The highway was desolate; cars were littered everywhere and bodies lay dead in the streets. Smoke was rising from the city surrounded by dark clouds. Darker shapes were further away as fires burned around her.

She stared at the bodies; some looked burned while others looked like they have been sick and finally succumbed to whatever illness they had. She walked toward the city, passing the cars with their doors open as flies landed on the rotting corpses. She saw a shape moving near a car which turned around and looked her dead in the eyes. She was an old brown woman, wearing a priestess robe and clutching a copy of the sacred scrolls in her hands.

"All of this has happened before; and will happen again." The woman said in her disturbingly raspy voice.

"What is this?" Laura asked terrified.

"And the demon hordes will rampage across the lands. Pestilance and Death follow them. The clawed hand of death will reach out for man; and man will swiftly die by it." The woman said again, repeating a verse from the Prophecies of Valmes.

"Who are you?" Laura asked.

The woman smiled as if she heard something that pleased her most. "They are coming; look up." She said.

Laura looked up and saw vast wings of fighters. They were dart shaped with wings and bony protrusions stuck out from the ends as their engines burned. On their tail fins and wings there was the dark symbol of a clawed hand.

"What the frak is?" She asked herself. She realized what she had seen. Those fighters were the same that attacked the Mercury.

It ended quickly as it began as she jolted up, the mug of coffee falling toward the ground and breaking on impact.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Dreadnought Deathwalker

"Warmaster; we are nearing the mouth of the wormhole." Jha'durs navigation officer; Combat Captain Len'tas said to her.

"Good take the rest of the fleet through." She said back to him. He complied and the massive Strike Fleet made its way through the wormhole. She managed to feel a sensation of quickening movement which soon stopped; she deducted that the wormhole put off energies that living things could feel if they were sensitive enough. Her experiments have managed to prove that somewhat. It was an effect similar to how telepath's powers were amplified in hyperspace. Her brother knew of the effects or why it happened.

"We're through. All ships are accounted for."

"Great. Lock on to the Kobol system tachyon beacon and head there through hyperspace. I will be in my quarters." She told Len'tas. She left the bridge and made her way toward her personal quarters. Her first officer; Ver'nai, a very capable female Battlemaster who proven her effectiveness in combat in campaigns against the Earth Alliance and Drazi. She went into her well furbished quarters. Ceremonial swords decorated the walls as well as paintings of famous Dilgar Warmasters and Emperors. Even her father; Ari'dur was on the wall as well as her mother; Lra'dur. She held pride in her family like most other Dilgar have done. She logged on to her computer to see if there were any notifications for her. There were none. She took off her Warmasters uniform and went to sleep.

…_.She stood on the surface of a world, a hot world she felt the desert heat all around her. Warm wind blew as she felt her hair move along with the wind. She could hear the waves of a distant ocean as she walked through the desert. There was rocky terrain and mountains. She moved toward that and instantly found herself looking upon a city; a vastly decaying city. The world wasn't Kobol; there was a glistening ring in the sunlight in orbit around the world. Cacti dotted the landscape as some insects started to buzz around her. She turned around and found herself in a grand temple; sunlight struck the floor through an opening on the ceiling and she saw inscriptions on the walls including symbols of swirling vortexes and storms. She knew the place; it was the Temple of Hopes; a Thirteenth Tribe location. The planet it was said to be on was across from a very dense closed star cluster which made hyperspace navigation impossible and the area was close to areas of space some Earth Alliance explorer vessels were known to travel. Most of the Thirteenth Tribe and their colonies were never found by Dilgar, as many were either in or close to Earth Alliance space. And Dilgar Intelligence knew that the Earth Alliance was starting to find many of those worlds. Including the other Earth. _

_She continued to walk around. Spires rose up in the temple. She continued her walk toward the light; for some strange reason the steps felt long and tiresome but she reached it. She reached out and touched the light….._

…_and saw a flash of a battle; first in space then on the ground. Cylindrical devices streaked toward a planet below and released some sort of strange mist like cloud. She saw ships which undoubtedly were Cylons but with hulls blackened with some spines sticking out similar to how the Colony appears. "But they are on the verge of total defeat? A galaxy overrun with Cylons?" She managed to think about it for a while…._

_ "All of this has happened before; and will happen again." A deep male voice said through the air…_

…."Warmaster Jha'dur to the bridge; were here at Kobol." She heard her first officer say. She tried to dismiss the incident as a dream; brought on by the stresses of war which can even affect the most disciplined Warmaster and soldier. She thought it strange though; the same dream would repeat itself every time she crossed into this sector. She couldn't ignore it now; there was something….else in this sector aware of her presence and communicating to her. It had to be a telepathic presence; as it only occurred every time she entered hyperspace in this sector. However; the Dilgar fleets that came and gone through the wormhole could not find any ship that could be transmitting such a message. She figured a very very power telepath was around here somewhere; she would have to find a way of looking for him/her/it.

"You continue to take the bridge; I am going to take a shuttle to the planet." She told her first officer. She acknowledged her command as Warmaster Jha'dur walked out of her quarters and toward the shuttle bay. She made it to her personal shuttle and told her pilot; Sha'pae to take the shuttle down to the base on Kobol where her brother was staying. She looked out the elegant porthole as she saw the hanger bay of the Deathwalker speed by her. Soon the shuttle was out and was heading toward the planet toward the night side, still dark but lit up by many camp and settlement sites littered about as the shuttle approached. The shuttle slowed its descent with its anti-gravity systems and some thrusters helping it to slow so it wouldn't shake itself apart from the stress. Pretty soon she could see the lights of settlements and outposts including the lights of the landing pad for her shuttle. Vast forests were around the area; having grown after several thousand years of not having to deal with human habitation that once filled this vibrant world over two millennia ago. This particular outpost was right next to a lake, a vast lake many miles long and wide; the people of Kobol called it Lake Myaneas after a famous explorer that surveyed it.

She felt a light thud as the shuttle landed on the pad. The shuttle doors opened and she made her way down the steps; accompanied by her invisible Spectres. She looked around; a concrete bunker compound was near the landing site where vehicles and people roamed about some taking analysis of archeological digs nearby that had turned up vast technologies. The whole Kobol system itself was rich in technological left-over's from when the United Tribes of Kobol existed and had their vast empire that spanned dozens of worlds; most of which were now controlled by the Dilgar. . She looked toward a light and saw her Sha'dur standing near the shore of the lake staring toward the shuttle. She motioned for her Spectres to leave; she didn't want them around for the personal moments between her and her brother unless there was business to be discussed as well.

"Glad to see you brother." She smiled as they shared a brief embrace. It made her happy to see him; after the long months of being split apart thousands of light years away from each other. It was a pivotal moment for both and they embraced it.

"I take it your trip here went well?" Sha'dur asked.

"It did; I am glad to be done dealing with all the issues back home. I take it Yasn'rae is proving very useful here?" She asked. "She is one of the best intelligence officers I have met she served us well back at Omelos and against the Drazi."

"She has." He smiled in satisfaction. "Her knowledge and operational skills have been of great use to everything here.

"You're welcome. I have brought much good news here too brother. It has been a glorious three weeks for me; and for the Imperium too I might add." She said; happy with the results of what she has strived and hoped to do all along.

"Go on…."

"The 'all powerful and mighty' Earth Allaince we have managed to stall and drive back has shoved a settlement down the League's throats. It was great! You should have seen the look on their faces as they forced the League to accept the terms!" She said with vigor. Sha'dur was now starting to smile at the news; happy that the Dilgar can now focus efforts on other projects while fleets are continuing to build up despite some losses at home which he knew were steadily being replaced. "Worlds will be left under occupation; only terms we agreed to starts with pulling out of Abbai, Cascor, Hyach and Markab territories. Alacan and the sniveling refugees from the other races are allowed safe passage to Earth Alliance space. That's our only drawback." She was smiling wickedly still even though she never liked some other terms. "I do have some good news for you brother; my forces have managed to capture a Vree ship; complete with its dimensional slip teleporter. It will be quite useful to your research." She said.

Sha'dur smiled. "That's great!" He said receiving the news with pleasure. He had always wanted to examine them; to find alternative FTL methods after examining the FTL drives the Colonials and Cylons used. His research and discoveries had helped the Dilgar greatly in their wars and allowed him to look into other areas of research including the theories of alternate dimensions beside hyperspace. He already had a working theory and evidence. There was a large science and testing station in the middle of deep space where he was planning a new type of jumpgate including a wormhole generator based off what he knew of FTL physics. "Thank you; I will look at it and find out if it resembles the operation of the FTL drives the Colonials and Cylons use. What else is going on at the other side?"

"We have begun evacuations of Omelos and surrounding systems. Infrastructure is being moved to appropriate locations to replace our losses in the war such as Mitoc and some colonies here in this sector. With your reverse engineering and design of FTL drives we are able to save more. Even keep hold of colonies on worlds unreachable through Hyperspace." She proclaimed. "I also heard you have been having some trouble here brother; I could tell when I received that prisoner in my lab" She said to him. Still even after many battles and fleet engagement Jha'dur still taught her brother the various arts of war she uses. After learning much from her; he applied them to his learning and made himself a better Warmaster while still attending to his own science like she was.

"Yes….." He sighed; not liking the idea of being embarrassed by an incompetent officer like he was when after the Mercury was destroyed. "He decided to try to capture a lone Battlestar and ended up getting most of his fleet summarily wiped out and most of his subordinates killed. I have pulled forces away from Colonial space so their fleets do not find us. Our forces here are not ready for a war against the Colonials. We have also lost Allakaris to a Cylon surprise attack but Gera'de managed to drive them back and destroyed their very last Resurrection Ship. However our losses were severe. It is doubtful though the Cylons will return." Sha'dur stated. He studied Cylon tactics closely from records from their ships detailing their first war and their plans to infiltrate the Colonies. He had originally hoped to use the Spectres to make an attempt to do what the Cylons did; or at least something similar and those was to install a backdoor on Colonial software piece that gets installed on most military ships; then use that to crash them and shut down their systems. Unfortunately that plan was not going to work due to recent issues. He still hoped to utilize a project similar to that plan with Yasn'rae.

"And yet they are not; I have more ships on the way here to reinforce everyone here while infrastructure is being moved. I shall arrange for a new military base to replace the one at Allakaris including mobile mining platforms retrofitted with the FTL drives you helped engineer. I am proud of you though; your command in this sector has helped war efforts significantly. I also have a solution to the Colonial problem." Jha'dur smiled intently.

"What shall that be?"

"A Narn ship is on its way to provide a diplomatic assistance effort. Me and Gera'de will make an official apology to the Colonials and sign a treaty of peace and pay proper reparations. We will signal our borders and if so admit we destroyed their creations they feared; the Cylons." She said; knowing Colonial culture and their continued hatred of the Cylons could provide a definite advantage in negotions. She was even willing to tell them they found evidence the Cylons were going to attack the Colonies if she felt it would further her goals. A Narn vessel would be best as it would be neutral and allow both sides to negotiate. "This will go on as our Spectres gather the bioweapons and unleash plagues upon their worlds; I have concocted a virus that I will call H1S1; a variant of a virus humans sometimes get called H1N1 and N2, It will kill off most of their population within a year or so after having chances to spread throughout their systems. I have done the studies myself It shall be a potent weapon to use against them. They will never know what hit them." She grinned evilly.

"A stunning plan I might say. Why the Narn though?"

"We have made agreements. They found the wormhole and we agreed to give them technology we discover in exchange for them to be kept as allies and from trying to take newly conquered worlds. However we have agreed to give them some systems the Imperium didn't want. We know what will happen; they will build up their technology and with the newly acquired heavily robotic infrastructure will attack the Centauri. What we are doing is giving them most of the Cylon's technology; their Centurions of all models and examples of ships but without FTL drive. We do not wish for them to have too many possible advantages. If Earth does decide to attack us again with technologies obtained from the League and Replics they have promised to fight on our side. Both sides are building up their fleets as we speak! The Spectres in Earth Alliance technology have made a startling and disturbing discovery. I had intelligence check twice before I believed it."

Sha'dur lowered his head in anticipation of the news. "What is it?" He asked in solemn.

"The Earth Alliance has discovered Earth… The Thirteenth Tribe Earth…." Sha'dur knew what she was talking about; the Earth that was the homeworld of the Thirteenth Tribe which they all knew was not the same as the Earth Alliance's homeworld. He believed that the Thirteenth Tribe may have had some minor influence on the world with a little evidence. Jha'dur and he were looking into the matter. "The worst part is; they have had it for a decade; exploiting their technologies and introducing them within their fleets and troops. They're the leading empire in cybernetics; with an army of robotic warriors complete with artificial intelligence it could get worse especially since the Earth Alliance is building their forces and reverse engineering the technology of the League. We have tried to get a Spectre in the system but with the advanced sensors and equipment the Thirteenth Tribe had its proving very difficult. We lost two Spectres already trying to get there. I have shied away from sending more; the Intelligence Arm is already spread too thin and we don't need more losses to our intelligence crews and Spectres." She stated. "We do know that Earth is rapidly putting faith in Artificial Intelligence in a similar fashion the Colonies did fifty years ago."

"It could be the same way it was with the previous civilization of Replics; they and their robots destroyed each other after the war with Kobol which ended almost in Kobolian humanities destruction. Maybe the Earth Alliance will rely on their robots too much and they will rebel. Have any other species met the same demise with artificial intelligence?"

"I only know of one; the Ikarrans a race we heard old data files on that existed rimward very close to Earth Alliance space. They were invaded and created organic style robots in response to invasions; however they rebelled just like the Colonies and wiped their whole race out. Legend has it the robots still roam the deserts of that particular planet." She said recalling intelligence files gathered from the Centauri. "I greatly consider the possibility of war; however if their version of the Cylons wipes them out we will face a tougher enemy than the Earth Alliance; one that will not fear manpower shortage, combat, or losses of their own. A ruthless and truly relentless enemy that will not stop or surrender or even retreat; it's quite funny really it just keeps happening across the galaxy no matter what. It would be fighting the Cylons except Cylons with League technology, Earth weapons, tactics, strategy and finally competence; some thing which the Cylons here lacked. It was a disturbing prospect to consider.

"All of this has happened before; and will happen again." Sha'dur said quoting a line from the Sacred Scrolls. "The Colonies spent over a decade fighting their Cylons; I think you're right. It's not a good prospect for us. However we should attack them once both forces have been weakened. Do you rely on the word of the Narn?" Sha'dur questioned. The Narn so far have honored every treaty and have even been given a couple of systems the Dilgar had no need for. According to good intelligence they were increasing military forces and infrastructure; with the issues with the Centauri it wouldn't be long before the Narn would make a decision on invasion to conquer a couple of their worlds out of revenge. They both believed the Narn would not do anything more than mere skirmishes against other races save for the League and maybe Earth and even then it was more out of the question.

"I doubt it however your suggestion is a great idea; by then some of our new technologies will be in place for us to use. I have made great strides in replicating the Cylons Organic Memory Transfer technology. I have even authorized our own Resurrection ships to be constructed and ready for field testing within the next couple years. I even hope to utilize their mass cloning technology as well." She said taking great strides in her research from captured Humanform Cylons and other Cylon technologies.

"A clone army sister; are you sure?" Sha'durs eyebrows raised on the thought. The Cylons were the first race ever known to use mass cloning technology; not only to clone their models but to copy their personalities to some degree too. It did make the Cylons a worthy opponent in regard however they lacked to think they would face another race armed to the teeth with the drive to conquer and discover. The Cylons have been smart with tactics and strategy as the loss at Allakaris proved; but they were led by a deficient model known as Cavil. The only other race even rumored to use mass cloning or anything close to Resurrection technology was the Ta'kona'sha; an old mysterious race to the coreward of Dilgar space. They never got into the affairs of galactic politics and mercilessly destroyed any ship that strayed near their space. No race ever got a good contact with them and it's unlikely any ever will.

"Yes! Think of it Sha'dur; the most skilled warriors and the most brilliant minds multiplied a thousand fold; copies of our best captains and warship crews at every battle putting their best skills in use." She said considering massive possibilities for Omelos.

"And with Resurrection we would never have to worry about a permanent death; our best crews and fighter pilots will learn from their mistakes without fear of true death; their skills enhanced each time they flew into battle; our captains learning an enemy's tactics and strategy and they still carry that knowledge as they resurrect into their new bodies. It's a brilliant plan Jha'dur" Sha'dur smiled. He was proud of his sister's accomplishments as she was proud of his once he took control of this sector. He managed to get FTL drives successfully reverse engineered including organic computer technology; some aspects which led to massive improvements to Dilgar computers and even armor.

"I also see Yasn'rae has been of great use to you? She is a great officer from the best and brightest of the Intelligence Arm; I am glad to see her putting her skills to use here."

"She has been a great help though I only wish we could have placed more Spectres in the Colonies. The four agents we have there now have been very useful so far." Sha'dur said. He didn't know where exactly each agent was; just that they were in the Colonies and making use of themselves.

"We shall discuss everything with the other Warmasters here; come let's take a walk there is a lot to talk about here. Is Daniel still here?" She asked.

"He is; still in that building under heavy guard."

"Good I need to have a word with him." She said smiling evilly.

**The Colony**

John Cavil sat at a small wooden table with Simon; one of the Cylon models he surely trusted with his life. This particular model had been instrumental in reverse engineering Dilgar technology and learning much about him. Cavil was simply amazed by what was discovered, the war had taken a strain on him; he had barely been able to rest and even less been able to focus on anything other than trying to fight the Dilgar back and plan the extinction of the Colonies. They had eaten recently; the only absences noted were most of the Threes; Sixes; an Eight and all of the Twos. They were away on the mission to attack Allakaris. "Has the fleet reported back to us yet?" He asked flatly. Deep inside he could care less about the other models; he felt they weren't loyal enough to him and made the mission on purpose to send them to their deaths so he could clone more models loyal to him; a method he felt better than boxing.

"No; they haven't and they are well beyond their report time. I presume they didn't make it."

"Good riddance." He said coldly. Cavil closed his eyes and all of a sudden managed to see the brief flash of a dark structure and a red eye looking at him. He instantly awoke again on the feeling; trying to ignore it but feeling cold and dark nonetheless. "They are a waste and get away in my plans. I HOPE none have survived. I want loyal models Simon; is it too much to ask for?" He asked. For a while he and other loyal Cylons had seen some division in the ranks for what to do about the war against the Dilgar.

"No it isn't John; let's head to the chamber and look at our project I have made quite some progress in it." The well built Cylon said to him. They got up and walked the halls not even bothering to project anything around them. This section of the ship was mostly deserted; the Cylon centurions in other sectors well away from the prying eyes of other models. Cavil never trusted the other models; he felt a vote against him was a vote against the Cylon race so therefore he always would come up with a plan to kill them all off so he could have only loyal models. Datastream ports lined the walls available for anyone to look at reports and any status update. Right now; as they believed the fleet he sent to be wiped out there was only the Colony and Hub in this sector. No contact was even made with the Resurrection ship; but although he expressed his regret with the loss of the ship he truly never cared it was lost; it just gave him the opportunity for a new Cylon race without the drag of the other models. With his latest project the Cylons will be able to win against the Dilgar and later on against the wretched Colonials themselves.

They both entered a room; a large room that spanned a few hundred meters across. There were tanks; hundreds of them lined up and sealed with a special material covering the top of it. The Hub was used as a mass cloning facility; cloning the models and growing them; copying their knowledge and skills to be made useful. It was primarily used as the central point for Resurrection Ships; coordinating all efforts among them to ensure Resurrection took place effectively. Now; with the loss of the only Resurrection Ship remaining Cavil and the other could clean up the mess of the other models to make the Hub to his liking. Soon he would remove the trace of other models killed at the battle and ensure production of only models hard pressed to be loyal to him. The facility was very useful to his latest project. John knelt down to one of the tanks and pressed a button that opened the lid. He laid a hand on the side of the tank and looked at the face of the being in it as Simon looked on in curiosity and pleasure at the success of the project. He too looked deeply at the being; a culmination of months of hard work; research and study but they succeeded in the end. They made their first Dilgarform Cylon. Only the Cavil and Simon models knew of the projects existence but in time the other loyal models would be told of it once everything was underway.

"Simon, it is your models basic personality which will be uploaded into the first series of models. In time I will do the same and copy my personality into one of these creatures and we can tear the Dilgar apart from within!" He boasted. "Then we can go to our original plan and destroy the Colonies with extra might of the technologies and prizes we captured; including the memories of their most glorified commander; Warmaster Jha'dur." He grinned at the tank in front of him.

Simon looked down at the Dilgar in the tank. He had plans to capture Jha'dur once his forces were at full strength. "We have prepared biological weapons that work on destroying red blood cells; it's our best counter to her weapons. We can use them once we are able to reach their colonies and homeworld." He boasted with pride. Simon knew a lot about biological weapons; some were even prepared for use against the Colonies however their storage and production site was destroyed by the Dilgar.

"She will have a taste of her own medicine Simon don't you worry." Cavil smiled. "That's why I want her alive so I can download her memory so we will know what she knows and we can use that when we fight the Colonies! Their worlds will burn before us like we always wanted." John Cavil always believed in better models; and Simon was already working on it. Eventually new Resurrection ships will be build which will contain both human and non-human Cylon models. After plans are taken care of here they would take the fight to the other side of the wormhole and begin exterminating the Dilgar there. Other races will soon follow the chain of death Cavil had planed.

"Where the other models have failed we will succeed." Simon said smiling at the thought. "I need to attend to the rest of the projects John I will let you know first thing if the fleet has contacted us." Simon said as he walked away. Cavil simply said nothing to him and looked at the tank contemplating the future of the Cylon race that he felt rested with him. He knew the fleet he sent out would most likely not make it. He had withheld intelligence and knowledge that the Dilgar have used tachyon blanket jamming to block the Resurrection process though sometimes if the ships were close enough it would break through the jamming; it was a pure death trap; the final solution to the disloyalty issue that always plagued his thoughts.

"Interesting project you have there isn't it?" Cavil turned to the direction to the deep reverberating voice that sounded very alien to him….and yet very demonic as well. Acting on instinct he grabbed his pistol and aimed toward the direction of the sound. He saw that no one was there; he dismissed it as a voice in his mind; a byproduct of operating in stressed environments of war and seeing your race face destruction by the hands of a relentless alien race. The heat oppressed brain could make errors and thought about having a Centurion kill him so he could resurrect toward the Hub. He continued to look down into the tub where the empty Dilgarform Cylon lay.

"And it makes you happy that you will sow great chaos soon as you already have?" The voice said again; sounding a lot closer and raspy. Cavil knew this was the real thing and not a ploy someone was playing. There was something in the room speaking to him and it shocked him how anything invisible could get on the Colony or any Cylon ships. He knew that Spectres have tried several times to infiltrate the Cylons and have failed through being detected by the Cylon Centurions that roamed about.

"I can have my Centurions come into this room and find your frakking ass. I wouldn't count too much on your damn invisibility so if you're smart you would show yourself!" He yelled into the darkness.

"And yet John it wouldn't work." It said again as John turned to see a figure materialize at a darkened corner of the room and walk toward him. "You know there was a definite reason why you ordered the Centurions away from this section of the Colony."

"Yeah and it's because I want to do my work in piece!" He bellowed in anger and frustration at the creature. He could make it out completely now; its hideous form showed itself in the dimly lighted room. Its skin was black and cracked; looking like a giant stone demon with red glowing eyes with two large horn protrusions that were at the top of the head having the same color as the skin. He shuddered a bit inside upon seeing it but still held on to his feeling of control. The same red glowing eyes stared at John and for a moment he felt a sensation of fear but threw it aside and stood up to the creature himself. He pointed his pistol at his head; ready to fire an explosive round at a moments notice; completely willing to see if its rocky hide will withstand such a round. "Who are you?" He asked with vigor and anger of being rudely interrupted.

"Not a very good question to ask John." It said staring him with the dark red eyes; he felt them star deep inside him; an odd sensation but he took it well.

"It's a good question if you don't want to be blown into a million pieces! Now tell me who the frak are you before I decide to…"

"I am an ambassador to you John Cavil; personally and the Cylons loyal to you." It said smiling demonically cutting him off. It kept the same demonic grin while looking him dead in the eyes.

"We don't accept ambassadors here; we have no use for them!" Cavil said; his voice showing coldness in his heart.

"I am here to help you John; I am pleased with your work my masters have not even though of such a plan themselves!" It said with a passing smile as it looked upon the Dilgarform Cylon in the tank.

"So what are you exactly? Obviously you are not Dilgar!" John said; lowering his pistol. He no longer felt threatened by the creature for it was just one being. He felt others would be found if it were his wish. If Cylons could detect the Spectres then they could certainly detect the creature before him. At first glance they appeared to use the same technology of stealth.

"I am merely a shadow of darkness; we know how to go unseen throughout most places." It said. "My name is Salimesh; as I said I am an ambassador to you and the Cylons." He said formally.

"From which race?" Cavil asked knowing that there were many more races out there.

"From the Drakh." It said flatly

"Never heard of them; so what exactly are you doing here?"

"We have been looking at your progress with your project; we see potential in your race; a reflection of our own. Still strong after being taken apart; and I see that you are strong including those loyal to you John." It continued.

"Really now I bet it makes you happy doesn't it?" John said flatly.

"Our masters have seen progress with your race; we dismissed them earlier but not we see success. Our masters see the potential for the uses of a strong Cylon Empire in the galaxy just like you and the rest of your followers wish. Our technology is strong enough to allow infiltration into any race just like yours and your project. Don't you wish you could create many alienform Cylons to rip apart species from within; tear apart the Dilgar from within; tear apart any race that even dares threaten the Cylons from within. You can do this and I know it's what you want for the Cylons."

"Nothing like this comes without a price Salimesh; what is your price we have to pay for your help?" Cavil asked; listening carefully to his words; making sure to listen on every point made. He didn't want to screw this one up or end up being used.

"We want a powerful Cylon Empire that will survive and stand. An empire with the capability of placing figures in the ranks of many alien races ready to act and cause chaos. We will help you make it happen; we will give you technology and assistance in your cloning projects as well as your projects in creating alienform Cylons. We will expand your base and even give you the means to strike back at the Colonials for enslaving your race." He offered.

Those words made Cavil listen even more. He felt this was a good chance to take; but knew if the Drakh betrayed him then he wouldn't have any qualms destroying them like others.

"And what of the other Cylons that fought at Allakaris?" He asked.

"They really don't matter Cavil; what matters is you and your followers." Salimesh said. He was right; Cavil never truly cared for the other Cylons except those very loyal to him. They mattered nothing to him now; they could die in the coldness of space for all he cared; or become subjects of Jha'dur for experimentation like so many others have during the war. It never mattered anyway; just his loyal followers.

"I do have a question though; nothing too complex just something simple that my masters like answered."

"What is it?"

"What do you want?"

"A good question" He paused for a moment. "I know what I want Drakh. I want to see the Galaxy burn as its overrun with Cylons. I want to see empires fall before my eyes as they are ripped apart from within and later on nuked into oblivion as we surround their homewords and turn them into burning wastelands. I want to see corpses laying dead in the streets of their worlds; floating in the depths of space; and burning in radioactive fires from our weapons. I want to see people beg and plead for mercy as they lie drifting in hulks of steel and metal as their ships lay destroyed before us as we finish them off" Cavil scowled coldly and madly. "I want to give up this pathetic human body for my race and experience wonders as a machine; the next step up from this biological wastebag. I do not want to be human!" He shouted. "That is what I want!" He said to the Drakh before him; staring at the creature as its smile grew; seemingly pleased with the response Cavil gave. "You look like a happy fellow now. What goes on from here?" He asked flatly.

"Your Colony and Hub; as well as all forces here will jump to a secure location we will provide; we will not worry about Dilgar patrols and the like. You will be safe with us." The Drakh smiled.

It was a good offer and he took it.

Cylon Fleet- Deep space

Diana paced through the Command and Control station of the Basestar. She has always thought a crisis like this would come to her ever since the Dilgar burned their fleets to cinder over the years. Now the reality was a hard slap to the face to her and the rest of the Cylons that were with her. She struggled to maintain a stance with herself and her emotions to prevent herself from becoming an emotional wreck. She prayed to God for the strength to overcome these losses. Her faith in God was the only thing keeping her alive at this point. Now she had decided what she needed to decide the past day.

Ever since the battle; for the past two days they have been gathering survivors from damaged Basestars; treating them and fixing up damaged vessels. There was no hope rescuing damaged Cylon ships in Dilgar space they would have been made target practice by Dilgar Thoruns or other ships. Plus it may allow the Dilgar to track their ships across space. This area of deep space was far from the battle site and any known Dilgar positions. She felt it was unlikely they would be tracked here but still kept herself and all other ships on guard.

She looked over at Sharon who sat down with her elbow holding her head up on a table. Obviously she was depressed; everything today took a massive toll on her as death was now seen as a permanent dark force that could either come from the Dilgar or any other force that was thought to roam in space. Diana approached slowly; trying to remain calm as status reports flowed on the datastream. All that mattered to them was survival. As Diana approached; Sharon shot up from her seat slamming her fist on the table in rage. "Frak it all!" She screamed. "I didn't come all this way to die a depressed damn heap. I am going to try to try a link with the Colony and Hub. I need to do something useful!" She yelled. Diana said nothing and motioned her to move on. Sharon went to a datastream panel; placing her hand on it and closing her eyes.

Diana could only watch. She did find a slight tint of happiness. People still did their jobs regardless and tried to save what was left of their race. Even with the loss of the Resurrection Ship there was still the Hub; and she knew Cavil would never sacrifice it. This mission was exactly as she though; a suicide mission. She didn't even believe Cavil cared weather or not they were still alive as no Cylon ships even tried to make contact or come near the sector.

"Diana… we have a problem." Sharon said softly trying to hold on emotionally. Diana felt her heart slightly sink with the news. It had to be something bad.

"What is it?" She asked flatly.

"I can't reach them….. I can't reach the Colony or the Hub. I tried multiple times; they just aren't there! No tachyon transmissions; nothing!"

"Let me try." Diana said sharply. She knew something was wrong; very wrong. If it was a Dilgar attack then they would have heard something. Even a distress call or a warning not to come to the Colony or Hub unless the Dilgar blanket jammed everything; in that case they would have to send a scout ship and they had plenty of Heavy Raiders for the job.

Diana moved to the datastream and placed her hands on it. She closed her eyes and focused; becoming immersed in the tachyon linked V-world they all shared. She pulled up tachyon communications and focused a stream toward the position of the Colony and Hub….nothing…it was all dark and no stars. Nothing even showed up on receivers showing they still existed. It was simply pure darkness. "Do you want to try the Salvation system?" Sharon asked.

"No." She answered. "Get a Heavy Raider prepped; we will find out what's wrong. If any Dilgar show up; jump to the nearest triple star system to hide. Pass this to Leoban; he is in charge till we return." She stated.

Both Diana and Sharon made their way to the hanger bay where a Heavy Raider stood by. Several Centurions of a variant of Model 005 followed them; carrying high powered plasma bolter rifles; designed after the Dilgar weapons their Marines carried as they boarded Cylon ships. It guaranteed some protection in case a Dilgar fleet felt lucky. Diana stayed focus; forcing the emotions of anger to appear and holding on to it allowed her to retain what little semblance of self she had.

This war would never be over; at least not for her. Survival was all that mattered now as she forced her other emotions aside and kept herself on the task at hand. She handed a plasma pistol over to Sharon in the hallway; both projecting the image of a wide canyon they walked through; an epitome to what they were now facing; a long trek through a wasteland; nothing good in sight with a shroud of darkness surrounding all of them. They both reached the hanger bay where their Heavy Raider was waiting for them. Two Cylon Raiders were waiting too as escorts both equipped with FTL drives the modified saucer shaped Hellfire class showed themselves in magnificence to both of them. The rear door opened automatically to their presence and they made their way in; centurions behind them.

The interior was dark; with organic walls covering the interior with seats complete with harnesses that could be modified to strap a Centurion in; or a humanoid Cylon. The pilot's portion was at the front which had an assortment of both technological and organic components. There was a DRADIS console, gauges, thrusters and joysticks for manual piloting. Computers were also available should the datastream become unavailable. Diana put on an organic headset similar to a holoband and placed her hand on a datastream port. She connected with the ship as Sharon did the same creating a linked world for both of them to talk wirelessly. She told the computers to seal all doors so the hanger could depressurize and they complied. Air rushed out as the hanger bay doors opened, the gravity plates releasing their hold on the craft as they all fired thrusters in unison and sped their way out of the hanger.

Diana could see the walls of the hanger speed past her; she connected with the ships and escorts FTL drives to ensure they were primed and ready. She took notice of the fleet around her which still had dozens of ships with shuttles and raiders scurrying back and forth carrying supplies to ships which needed repairs. Dozens of automated repair ships skimmed about; repairing holes in other Baseships and repairing damaged fighters. She had the computer input coordinates to a binary system halfway between here and Salvation. It was a system far from any Dilgar activities or patrols and thus would be safe from harm. With a single thought she told the three ships to jump and with a flash of light they vanished…..

…And reappeared above the light blue hue of an icy moon orbiting a gas giant very far out from the two stars. She could see two points of light in the distance fairly close together which told her they were the main binary stars. A quick DRADIS sweep told her there were no ships or tachyon transmissions. Sharon tried again to reestablish contact with the Colony but to no avail. They both remained strictly silent as they made their way toward Salvation, the three ships readying for another jump. They let themselves drift over the icy moon which could have boosted resources and was a good candidate for a Cylon mining facility to feed their war effort. Salvation already had the shipyards, manufacturing facilities and mining facilities needed to create ships that could spread to this system and deliver resources back and forth. She kept the system saved in the ships computer for further review if the Salvation yards still are there.

Being very anxious and expecting the worst; Diana told the ships to make the jump to Salvation. Again they vanished…..

…and instead of expecting them to be gone there they were, they didn't vanish! Diana was not only happy but tears of joy were running down both her and Sharon's faces. They were getting a transmission from one of the Supernova Class Baseships; it was Melissa; another Three model who was also in charge of operations here.

"Good frakking God where in the hell were you? The Colony and Hub jumped and left our asses here to dry for fraks sake not even the Hybrids know where they went. Have you managed to contact them?" She asked

"No!" She said over wireless. "We will tell you more in person." She said to Melissa. The three ships made their way toward the massive visage of the Supernova Class Baseship. It looked similar to the double-saucer Brimestone class but much larger and with an even larger saucer section in the middle with retractable arms that extended in four directions. The arms were retracted this time but would be extended in a time of combat to provide more weapons power or to launch thousands of Scimitar class organic raiders. It was a formidable ship; designed for the purpose of massive fleet engagements and to go toe-to-toe with the largest of Dilgar ships or even Mercury Class Battlestars.

The three ships made their way toward the massive baseship. As they approached they noticed it almost completely enveloped them in its massive size and metal bulk. The doors closed behind them and the bay pressurized. Diana and Sharon made their way out and were greeted by Melissa. She and Diana shared an embrace before walking off to a room where they could rest. Diana told her story of what happened at the battle and when Sharon couldn't get a hold of the Colony. Melisa replied in the negative when asked if any Dilgar patrols have been sighted within a dozen light years. Melissa had a raider dispatched to the fleet to bring them here for repairs. "I figured Cavil has probably gone mad and just left us here to rot. Let him do his own damn thing; he has almost caused the extinction of the whole Cylon race probably more than the bloody Dilgar in the years they fought us." Melissa said in a heavy accent. Diana agreed. It would be worthless to try to find them anyway; they could be anywhere by now; him and his minions could burn or just die. They didn't care anymore.

"So what do we do now? We can run or fight now." Sharon said. Everyone else just looked down; not sure what to think or decide.

"Well I guess we can contact the Colonials now that Cavil is out of the picture and is unlikely to return." Diana suggested.

"Do you think it's a good idea? Do they even have knowledge of the Dilgar or what they're capable of?" Melissa asked. She was open to the idea of Colonial contact; being one of the progressives. She didn't like Cavil's attitude toward them; she felt he seriously held back the war effort and caused more issues than solutions.

"Some yes; the Mercury was attacked several weeks ago; we also know the Colonies are reverse engineering a Kobol tachyon beacon. They are our best hope and we should not squander the chance. What the frak could we do next; there is really no other choice. They have a standing military that can fight; we can't. There is no other option." Diana responded.

"Well; I guess it worth a shot." Melissa said. "We should have the rest of your fleet jump here for further repairs. We go out today and find them."

Grassy Knolls- Gemenon

Grassy Knolls was a small town on Gemenon which had exactly what the name says; grassy knolls. It was a small religious town where Oracles were known to gather and hold fairs; the town has been there for several centuries; enduring quakes, storms and all sorts of natural disasters. In the distance some castles still stood where Kings and Oracle leaders held command of vast armies long ago. Now the town was made up of stone houses with white tents beside them; wooden buildings still stood. There was still modern technology used here; it was simply tucked away behind the aesthetics of stone and wood. As most Gemenese people didn't care to build structures out of traditional steel and concrete; rather they used wood and stone as they always have for hundreds of years. Forests still dotted the landscape away from the grassy fields and knolls; still home to multitudes of wildlife and plants that were a rarity in the rest of the Colonies.

Standing against the wall of a stone building was a light skinned man with dark hair. He wore a Caprica Buccaneers jacket; the jacket of his favorite Pyramid team. He was of good build having done the rigors of heavy exercise and labor most of his life; however he let his beard grow out so he could maintain a slightly different appearance for this mission. Normally at his work he would wear a black suit and tie; typical of most in his line of work or plain clothes and jacket. The name he was using today was Trevor Donaman. However at work he was Travis Lonham; field special agent with the Colonial Intelligence Division; it was quite a line of work, having infiltrated many rouge groups and terror organizations. He even infiltrated an elusive STO cell operating out of Leonis a couple years ago. His efforts led to the arrests of hundreds of terrorists and assassinations of even more of their leaders. He had quite a kill count on his list.

This mission was different. He was posing as a father having marital issues with his wife named Carol and having issues with a behavior problem laden son named Raymond in grade school. In reality however; he was a single man; no wife and certainly no children that he knew of. To most others this mission would seem like a very strange and weird venture but to him it was more normal; especially after he read some of the reports. His mission was to gather on the accuracy of Oracles hence the fake identity. The Director; Lori Hassan had given him the order to do so after they read mission reports from the First Cylon War and their use of Oracles. They found the Oracles using similar fashions after a few managed to pick out agents infiltrating regular crowds attending Oracle Fairs. None of the info was released to the public; however Oracles used were a vital instrument in the protection of Gemenon during the War. They predicted Cylon fleet movements; positions; and targets. This led to accuracy of Gemenese defense fleets striking Cylon key targets and protecting most of the colony then later on other Colonies and strategic areas.

He had already been through a couple Oracles; one was an old lady who said he would the problems would clear up and another was a middle aged man who told him it would end in divorce. He thought most were frauds to take peoples cubits and run; never leaving any satisfaction. He took another drink from a bottle of water and continued to the next tent. He walked past the stone building and looked at the entrance where he saw a surprising sight of a young man giving an older couple a reading. He could have been no older than twenty-five and sported a short haircut of red hair which told him he could have been of either Scorpia or Saggitaron decent. The couple got done with their reading and walked out hand in hand still obviously happily married after so many long years. "Hey you should check this guy out; he is the real deal for sure! He was right about everything." The older man told Travis as he walked with his wife. He smiled back at him and decided to give it a shot. He was still surprised at the Oracles apparent age; most Oracles are not ordained until their late twenties or early thirties so this was something he should not miss.

Travis walked into the tent keeping his alias and story in his thoughts; he knew which questions to ask first without revealing too much about his story. He was going to ask if his marriage would remain strong and hope the Oracle could pick up on the story being a tall tale using whatever powers or abilities they may have possessed. He sat down in a chair next to the table and relaxed.

"Hey how can I help you today?" The young man asked in a voice typical of those his age with a thick accent of Scorpia.

"Oh I just want a reading; I have thirty cubits I can put down." He said laying down the cash.

"Any particular questions; it wont take long I promise you." He said smiling.

"Yes I do in fact; I just want to know if my marriage will remain strong. Also I want to know if my son will do well in school." Travis said keeping a straight face; not betraying his true self.

"Okay." He said closing his eyes appearing to concentrate. "Your wife's name is Carol; and there was an issue I picked up. She asked for a divorce right?" He said; putting Travis in a bit of shock; he nailed two of the portions of the story. Travis was thinking it had to be coincidence; maybe another Oracle told him of the story? "Your son is in grade school and has been known for behavior problems; I see he has been in fights and faced multiple suspensions." Now this was interesting, Travis couldn't believe he nailed the whole story. "You loved Carol and were married to her for fifteen years. You don't want to see her go and would do anything to keep her. Its quite a tale; would make a great divorce story if true mister Travis."

The last part froze Travis like a stone; he couldn't believe himself it was happening. The young guy had not only nailed the fake story word by word; but even nailed his real first name. Either there was a very, very serious leak in intelligence or this guy was really scanning his thoughts. He felt strange the whole time he was there like something was watching him and looking inside him. He felt a chill go up his spine.

"Well that's a definite change of emotion; when you were approaching the tent you were convinced most Oracles were frauds and just wanted people's hard earned money; now you think some of us are actually real don't ya?" He said in a smart tone. "Come here." He said waving a finger for him to come closer. "I know you're CI." He whispered. "I guess you're gonna have to shoot me now that I figured it out." He said sarcastically.

Travis was now face to face with a young sarcastic smartass Oracle. "No; that's not what I'm going to do." He said flatly.

"Ahhhh am I going to interrogate somebody?" He said laughing. "I have always wanted to do that since I watched those cop shows!" He laughed again. Travis was asking himself if this kid was thinking if this was some kind of a joke. "I guess I'm busted now; but I know why you're here; your boss sent you here to see if any Oracles had genuine abilities. Well I will tell you this; quite a few do. I know a couple others who are genuine and are not even Oracles; at least not ordained ones." He stated.

"You are a smartass." Travis said to him. However he thought of the man in front of him he still had a mission to complete. "Well I guess you probably figured that I am going to offer you to come with me." He stated. He thought it was strange that all of a sudden he got cooperation from someone. He believed it was good potential.

"Of course Ill come." The man said without hesitation which surprised Travis. "Couple extra bucks never really hurt." He said again in a smart tone.

"You're actually coming aren't you?" Travis asked not sure if the man was serious or not.

"Yes; I am coming. Let me close this place down real quick then I will head out with you. Go ahead and place that closed sign out there please." He asked Travis.

"So what all can you do anyway; I'm just curious?" He asked.

"Mostly read thoughts; if I focus hard enough I might see possible futures. That's about it really; I have met others with different abilities; my grandmother could farsee into areas; she assisted police in locating bodies when she worked for the Nyami Police Department on Scorpia." He said. "Oh I just remembered; I never told you my name; my name is Joshua Rinser nice to meet you." He said shaking Travis's hand professionally. Maybe the young man had some good in him after all.

"Nice to meet you too Joshua you will have a lot of good opportunities with us." He said.

"So what will we be doing?"

"Testing your abilities; running medical tests; just stuff that corresponds to how we tested Oracles according to papers from the First Cylon War. Nothing too fancy it just gives us a general idea of how it works from person-to-person. I will make sure to guide you through it and other field tests" Travis said. He was surprised by the Joshua's eagerness to work with him; maybe he had an interest in working with the government.

"The reason why I am eager to help you is because I am quite interested in law enforcement; this seems way cooler to try." He stated; feeling this was going to be a good choice for him.

"Do you read every person's mind you come across?" Travis asked; somewhat annoyed by the repeat mind reading experiences.

"Pretty much yeah I enjoy peering into the thoughts of others. I can get all kinds of information from a person; no matter how much they try to hide it. Don't worry; I won't get any classified intel from you." He laughed.

Travis laughed. This guy was going to be a great for this department.

Delphi, Caprica- Marshall Hotel Suites

Chief Tryol was glad to finally enjoy planetside. The past two days on the Galactica were hectic to the extreme. The engineering inspectors from the Aprodite yards inspected the Galactica vigorously; checking every bulkhead, thruster, airlock and component they could think of. While they pushed for an upgrade to the computer systems; Commander Adama respectfully declined keeping with the history of the ship to have non-networked computer systems. Most of the inspections were passed; the others that were not weren't of any fault of the crew; but due to bad systems that needed replacement due to wear and tear; which was being done as he stood outside the Marshall Suites; one of the grandest hotels in all of Caprica and the Twelve Colonies. He stood outside looking up at it; the elegant stone structure stood proud with its overhead yawning painted in the bird carrying a flower in a tree symbol the company uses.

He walked inside; getting the room keys that Commander Adama told the hotel to set aside for them; it was a special favor and reward for the hard work done. Even most of the pilots including Starbuck and Major Jackson Spencer were there to enjoy the elegant rooms and do things for the night.

"Hey Chief; what are you and the rest of the knuckle draggers doing for tonight?" He heard Lt. Thrace ask him from outside.

"They are getting their frakking ass's drunken sir."

"First off; don't call me sir. We're off duty and you sure as hell know my first name. Use it; I don't want any CIS guys paying attention to us who have an itchy trigger finger for throwing the book at us for things we do on leave. We're here for two days then we head back to the shuttle to Galactica." She said formally and to the point. Galen nodded and went on to grab his key until she approached him again. "You know Galen; there is a place where you can get yourself some good frakking action; it's called Club Temptations; and it sits right there in the Hashinmon District. I hope to gods you brought a good suit since they are strict on dress. The better you look the better your chances of getting in."

"Where are you and Jack heading?"

"Probably some frakking bar; watch a couple boxing matches; have fun at the club though; but make sure you have protection; last thing we need is our best mechanic to catch the frakking cerph and brag that he's had a good time!" Kara laughed; bringing up the memories of old propaganda posters from the Inter-Colonial wars that told soldiers and other enlisted to use protection; or refrain from frakking during leave unless it was their husbands or wives they were screwing. This particular one he remembered was from the Caprican-Leonis conflict that showed a picture of a mechanic in duty wear holding a wrench standing next to an attractive female with the caption "Only a fool catches the cerph and brags that he's had a good time!" Galen had a collection of old posters back at his apartment on Caprica; now occupied by his mother once he went away.

He went upstairs to his room and used the electronic magnetic key to open the door. The room was fabulous; there was a small kitchen on one side where he could buy or cook his own food should he grab some from the cafeteria downstairs; there was a couch next to the king sized bed which faced a wide screen television. The sheets were blue colored with a fine fabric and the pillows were of the same bluish color as well. It was a surely luxurious hotel and he had to wonder what Adama could have done to get such accommodations. He did know with past commanders it was quite easy for them and other officers to get such grand accommodations.

He managed to get on a computer in the room and look at directions for the nightclub Kara kept talking about. It wasn't the first time she mentioned it; he recalled her mentioning it before she left to train other pilots including her fiancé Zak; who she said was doing government level work. Adama decided to pay a visit to old friends on Caprica while Tigh remained at the Galactica with the rest of the crew that didn't wish to leave or had other duties to perform. Galen wished though he knew what was going to happen next; a conversation with Colonel Tigh started a rumor the Galactica was going to be assigned to a major fleet which will deploy coreward; while another fleet will deploy anti-spinward toward the Armistice Line.

He went on CapWeb and looked at news highlights; he noticed a report of a breakthrough in Tachyon research. He remembered experiments in FTL communications; one of which involved a modification to an FTL drive to deliver transmissions back and forth; the experiment was partially successful but required a tremendous amount of energy and was thus scrapped. Ever since; the Colonial Science Directorate has focused efforts into tachyon research and made some strides. They knew the particles existed; they were created during FTL jumps in small amounts but replicating them was an extremely difficult process.

Galen heard from Jackson Spencer that his girlfriend Sarah was in Helios looking at some of the alien artifacts. He knew she was an archeologist with a knack for learning languages; she knew some old Gemenese dialects and was extremely useful to the team she was currently assigned to. He opened his suitcase to remove an elegant jacket; it was a blue sports jacket with a black tie with a white undershirt. He put it on and wore the dark blue pants that came with it and looked at him in the mirror. Satisfied; he walked out the door.

By the time he left it was already dark; city lights were on and brilliant lighting up the casinos, gambling houses, bars, hotels and all other attractions known in Delphi. Restaurants were also lit up; some showing attractions and advertisements for the finest seafood; steaks or fruit in the 12 Colonies. He looked up at the night sky and even through the light pollution could make out a couple stars. He could see the stars clearly that Tauron, Ragnor, and Virgon orbited. To see the others he would have to be in a different hemisphere of Caprica; and knew as the planet rotated he would be seeing the faint blue glow of the Blumist nebula which was well over a thousand lightyears away.

He hailed a yellow cab; handed the driver thirty cubits and asked him to drive toward Temptations Nightclub. Tyrol managed to save up several cubits after not only participating in training exercises on Galactica; but doing training at several systems including Mechanics School at Ragnor and the Combat Repair School in the same system; netting him a fairly good bonus as an instructor and an extra badge he could proudly wear on his dress uniform. He was smart; knowing how to manage his money well unlike some others underneath him who would typically spiral themselves into debt with overspending and overindulging on shopping or anything too high priced for an NCOs pay. They were usually dealt with and punished severely under CCMJ; Colonial Code of Military Justice.

The cab driver dropped him off at the location. He thanked him and gave a ten cubit tip for good driving. He had bad experiences with other cab drivers years ago back in Caprica City; they would overcharge or simply let their cars break down so they would sip a bit more cubits off of passengers as they charged by the hour and by the distance. This one was honest and he was pretty glad.

The nightclub entrance was marked with a white simple sign with two figures standing with a dark circle around them with the numbers 1234 marked out in black on top of it. The windows were completely blacked out and there were a series of bars guarding the main door. Cars were parked out in the lot as some couples made their ways toward the door and pushed a button to get in. A video camera was clearly seen above the entrance to watch people coming in and out of the building. Galen approached the building; getting out his civilian ID card that just stated his name; address and date of birth. He was smart enough as an NCO to know sometimes it wasn't a good idea to show military ID at some locations due to the possible presence of FCIS agents who had a knack for busting young privates and deckhands who wanted to show off. Most unfortunately were dumb enough to show their military ID thinking it would get them that extra inch even though that extra inch sometimes caused them to land in prison or at the military prison on Minos orbiting Tauron.

The gate had several grey bars intersecting looking somewhat like the bars on the brig cells back on the Galactica; only this time they were painted grey though some looked rusted. A button lay on the side near a wooden door frame where the gate connected. He pushed the button; a buzzer rang and the gate opened. He walked inside and walked a hallway which seemed rather dull to him. The walls were painted tan including the ceiling and there were no doors. He continued further and saw a bearded fat guy at a desk operating a computer looking at a couple monitors which appeared to be the inside of the club. Beside him was a very burly security guard whose dark skin and many tattoos told him he was of Tauron descent. He had noticed that Tauron natives were known for being excellent bouncers and security guards as well as officers for their aggressiveness and tenacity. The guy he was staring at looked like he could rip apart a Cylon Centurion with his bare hands though he probably would never be able to witness such a match the idea still stuck in his mind.

Galen instantly handed the computer worker his ID and he proceeded to scan it. "Cover charge is thirty-five cubits." The computer worker said flatly as the guard just looked at him with his arms crossed. Galen was sure that like typical clubs security walked around everywhere. He pulled out the amount out of his wallet and handed it over. "Take one of the rule packets too." He said. Galen complied and looked it over; it was typical rules for the 'Adult Clubs' he used to frequent; the no means no, clothing required in the bar area and lounge, and usage of protection. Normally unsafe people would be thrown out quickly at most people as most females would be quick to point out a guy who is persistent on not using any. Most places provided protection; normally as donations from parenthood groups and free choice organizations that applauded the legalization of abortion a couple decades ago.

He took the packet and walked through the double wooden doors. They opened automatically for guests and probably figured there was another exit which guards probably monitored as well. The building to him had more security than most on-planet installation buildings. He walked though and immiedately looked in awe of the place. Right to his left there was a bar area with stools, tables and some areas where people played games. There was a dance floor where a DJ kept playing electronic music and many feet across from that was an entrance to an indoor pool where people swam naked.

"Darling come here; frak me up the …." He heard the beginning lyrics to a piece of music that immediately switched to electronic dance rhythms. He listened to in his younger days at night clubs picking up women and bringing them back to hotels he stayed at. It was from a well known band that played some controversial music. He liked it though.

A little past the bar area he saw another hallway; leading to a bunch of private rooms that couples usually went to or small groups went to so they could have fun. On his right he saw several couches looking at a wide screen television. Other televisions were around the place either showing pornography or sports. Sometimes a movie or two would flare up with people gathered around to watch or play with each other.

Galen walked off toward the bar area, sat down on one of the stools and asked the bartender for a drink. He ordered a Nessus Bravo; a popular beverage. He poured a glass of the blue liquid and Galen gave him some cubits in exchange. On the screen in front of him was a late night boxing match; probably the same one Kara and Jackson were watching in another bar. This match was between two champions; Gerry Fendimo and Royma Castillo. It was the Inter-Colonial boxing championships that consisted of matches between teams from different Colonies in the same fashion that Pryamid Teams would play against each other.

Royma Castillo was a Tauron native with darker skin and many tattoos like the security guard he saw at the lobby entrance while Gerry Fendimo was a Canceron with a couple heavyweight belts from the past couple years. Patrons in the bar area cheered as Fendimo delivered blow after blow to Castillo as he tried to block the punches. Castillo delivered a hard sharp right into the cheek of Fendimo sending him back into the ropes. Already Fendimo was bleeding from the right side of his lip and his nose but still kept the match going. Already it was in its 7th round with three more to go.

"I see you're enjoying that drink quite a bit." A clearly soft but sharp female voice said right next to him. He turned to the side to look and saw a dark skinned female sitting next to him. She was thin, having soft arms and a slightly curvy figure to her. Her hair was dark, long, and curly which extended all the way down her shoulders. Her appearance felt slightly familiar to him but he couldn't pinpoint how. Her eyes were of a dark brown color too and the way she sat indicated she was wealthy or intelligent or both. She wore somewhat of a suit, a dark brown jacket with a skirt that extended to her knees.

"It's quite great." He responded to her; keeping caution in case she pulled out a badge or made another unexpected move. He know sometimes these places would do surprise raids and check everyone's ID for warrants or to find some excuse to arrest them. He decided minding his own business would be beneficial to him and his career. "Do you want a drink?" He asked her

"Of course, same as what you're having. It looks good." She said licking her lips slightly. Obviously she was flirting with him.

He asked the bartender for another drink and passed it on to her. She took quite a sip of it and looked back at Galen. "Do you come here often?" She asked

"Nahhh." He said. "This is my first time here." He turned in his chair to face her; his caution going away and becoming more trusting of the woman. If she was LE, he would have probably been busted by now. "How bout yourself?"

"I come here sometimes; when my work isn't busy and I have nothing to do. I rather like it here; that pool is heated you know I just swam in it an hour ago. Its actually one of the most relaxed places you'll find here in Delphi. How long are you staying tonight?"

"Well it depends if it like it here." Galen said smiling toward her. She got closer toward him and started to rub his arm.

"And I am going to guarantee you will like it here." She said grinning. "So are you from Delphi?" She asked.

"Nooo, I am from Caprica City. I have been in Delphi a lot; just not this place. I like it though I guess I might just come here more often." He said.

"Good." She said with a smile. "So; you know those rooms in the back? Well one of them is open lets go back there and talk privately." She suggested.

"So you're gonna entrap me huh?" He joked.

"Always entrapment." She quipped.

Tryol thought for a couple seconds to consider. He figured the place was safe and she was offering herself to him. It was too noisy here and he decided it would be best to go with her; maybe they would know each other a bit more. He felt like he was going to know her quite a bit. They both got up together and she walked in front of him toward the private rooms. That area was considerably darker as the lights were dimmed. There were at least ten different rooms in one hallway on each wall with wooden doors. They went into the first open one they saw. It looked like a regular modest hotel room; a king sized bed with a television in front of it and a small desk and couch nearby. Each room had its own bathroom and showering area. She went behind him to close and lock the door. Playfully; she pushed him on the bed. He grinned as she got on top of him and began to kiss, lick, and bite him gently.

It was going to be an interesting night.

Caprica City, Caprica- The next morning

Laura Roslin walked through the cold morning weather of the city. That vision had not only disturbed her but torn her in a way. She had remembered her aunt having a vision of an assassination of a politician by an STO cell which nearly came through were it not for the efforts of her husband; a retired Marine. Never before had any dreams disturbed her but the vision was so powerful she would waking up on the floor after it happened indicating it was something quite serious. Laura felt she was a bit more religious herself; she went to temple services and prayed to Zeus; even did the Great Offerings which were the cuttings of fruit which got passed around to members and summarily eaten.

She never told Adar of her vision fearing he might ridicule her or even have her be seen by a psychologist. She called her mother who was very religious and she suggested she see a priestess nearby. She walked to a nearby Temple of Athena where she hoped one could tell her what was going on as they had plenty of experience in these types of phenomenon.

She recalled her aunt Margaret having one of the visions in a similar way; it repeated night after night of an assassination of Karl Mowman; Defense Chief of Caprica back when the Cylons were starting to come off of production lines. She had it as a young woman in her 20s and they continued for a week until she told her husband who was a Marine serving at the time. He investigated and found the person who as plotting the assassination and report it properly; leading to the arrest of an entire cell. He was promptly named a hero for discovering the plot and taking the initiative to protect Caprican interests. She had assumed people had similar visions which helped police and military. There were even rumors of a Gemenese operation to use Oracles in its missions and intelligence operations during the First Cylon War; though it was doubtful she would find out if it was true or not.

Laura still made her way toward the temple building which she could see next to an adjacent lot. It was large; featuring a beautiful stone spiral and wall with intricate curves and carvings of the various pantheons of the Twelve Colonies. Other images were of heroes in popular culture that stood against massive armies or challenges with courage and endurance. On one side a carving of a helmeted man standing against many arrows coming at him was shown; symbolizing the hero Lonidas who faced a siege of the city of Omnisis by a group of militiamen under the control of the country of Barisas; a kingdom that had many holdings in a desert. He ordered his men to hold the line and with his skill and excellent swordsmanship killed many of their crossbowmen; took their weapons and rampaged through the enemy forces slaughtering many more. It was a true story of triumph even though the city fell days later.

She passed through an arch depicting winged dragons and men looking down. She came to a set of wooden doors and went through them to see the interior of the temple; with wooden seats cushioned to provide comfort with sacred scrolls in every slot on the back of the benches. Looking to the side she saw a woman dressed in clothing of a priestess. When she closed the door the woman turned around. Laura was stunned by the face of the woman…..

…..She was the same black woman from the vision; there was no denying it. The hair looked the same; even the eyes and face looked exactly the same. Laura still could only state for a bit in shock before feeling that this must be part of something bigger. The sudden revelation of this hit her like a nuclear strike. She still tried to keep composure; it would not be good if the Secretary of Education lost her wits in a religious structure.

"Can I help you?" She asked, her voice sounded a bit younger but sharper and not showing any signs of her age. She was also very healthy for her age; having faith in oneself would help with it.

"I…..I need some help; there was something that plagued me last night that I need to look at." Laura said nervously. She prayed the woman would not call for mental health services to cart her off after she told her story.

"I can help; my name is Elosha I am the Priestess here. Let's go to the booth and we can talk about your situation; are you a religious woman?" She asked.

"Somewhat; I believe in the Scrolls and go to services a few times a month. I work a lot and that keeps me too busy during the week." She said.

"So what is your situation?" She asked calmly and peacefully.

"Have you ever had anyone coming to you regarding visions before?" Laura inquired.

"Oh yes; lots of people have. You had a vision didn't you; do you want to share it?"

Laura began to tell her story. Elosha listened carefully to what Laura had to say; trying not to worry about repercussions as it was common for government officials to seek the help of Oracles, priests and priestesses in times of need. However they were normally for matters of faith and courage, and done to improve self esteem and confidence. Many also did it to get away from the stresses of high office.

This was different; she was bothered by a vision she felt she couldn't dismiss and really didn't feel like bothering to tell the woman about her position as Secretary of Education. It was not likely she would know who she was anyway as most people knew the faces of commonly seen officials such as Adar and various chiefs of staff and the Secretary of War; Samuel Hardson. The woman seemed perplexed and yet curious and asked more regarding it. Elosha took a glass of water and drank it before closing her eyes; locking herself in somewhat of a trance. She seemed to concentrate on something as she could see her eyes moving behind her closed eyelids. Laura's eyes got a bit blurry and saw what she thought was smoke but after rubbing them it vanished; her vision fully returning.

She opened her eyes and stared at Laura. "You must seek out the Three Sisters of Elara; they will be in the town of the same name on Gemenon. When you get there you can ask around to find them; they are known by some of the locals there and you should have no problem finding them. They are the best Oracles I have met. They will tell you more. This is your destiny." She had said. "They will let you know everything you need to know."

Laura was confused; the Priestess looked at her like it was some special destiny for them to meet. She did feel better though; she knew Gemenon pretty well; visiting the old temples as a child long ago. She even toured some sites that used to be held sacred. She had definitely planned on a visit now. She was very shocked though by what the Priestess said and even more shocked that the lady in her vision looked almost exactly like her; but it was a vision, maybe it was a simple coincidence. Someone could always look like someone else so she made sure to stick to every possibility.

"Thank you." She said as the priestess handed her the piece of paper showing their names and location. It wouldn't be long before she would book a flight there to discover more.

Highway 371- Hypathia, Tauron

FCIS Special Agent Matthew Geeman drove the black company Delphos Motors G26 on the highway toward the Hypathia General Hospital. Agent Sarah Vidda was in the car with him as dawn was approaching; they could see the large form of Minos appear over the horizon. They were heading to the hospital to pay a visit to Ramsef Ulluk; the Canceron arms dealer Sarah shot in the kneecaps back at the warehouse. According to hospital personnel he was in stable condition and could talk fairly well. Both were really anticipating the visit; it would be a great boost to their investigation.

"You know Matt; Tibbs seems to be very concerned about this arms deal investigation; a lot more than normal." Agent Vidda asked.

"He has?" Agent Geeman said in question. "I haven't noticed him acting any other way just plain old Tibbs."

"Well he was talking to the Director I guess Agent Tibbs had a gut feeling something else is wrong with what's going on with the Lightning. Have you read some of Agent Nizzo's reports?" She asked. Tibbs was always known for having a gut feeling that worked out very well; if he felt something was wrong or off it usually was and that caused a case to be solved or progressed rather quickly.

"I have; it seems to be a pretty large ring if it involves the Colonial Movers. This could be enough to shut their whole damn company down if it's big enough. There might be other cells operating in different ships." He suggested.

"Well Matthew it's more; did you read the part about not being able to get a bug past Hilis's quarters?"

"It sounds like Cylon technology to me; looks like this group really wants to keep themselves hidden. I remember that Tauron intelligence efforts to place other devices on Cylons were usually shut off by interference. Its possible Hilis decided to use the technology to his best efforts." He stated. He was familiar with old Cylon technology from the First Cylon War. It wouldn't be the first time he encountered a Sweeper; which was a piece of Cylon equipment that disabled electronic listening devices. It didn't matter to him; he could create a new one that had specialized shielding. He had a couple prototypes back at home as he learned the trades when he was on the CyberCrimes Unit as a CID attaché. Many people from FCIS would cross train with CID to better function and get use to working as teams. Both organizations would usually help with similar cases as well.

"Which means Hilis is part of something bigger; I highly doubt any normal crew of smugglers would even know how to operate some of the technology or…."

"Or Hilis has something bigger to hide. This happens to no one else on the ship; the bugs don't shut down then Nizzo puts them in the Captain's quarters or Zarek's." Agent Geeman figured. He was aware that Agent Nizzo discovered something big but was going to wait until the ship landed before telling anyone. He guessed it was something huge.

"So what could Hilis be hiding?" Agent Vidda asked.

"Well we're about to find out aren't we." Agent Geeman said as the car pulled into the Hospital. They knew their suspect was under police guard from the Hypathia Police Department; a unit they usually have worked with in the past each time someone from the Colonial Fleet or Marines would be murdered in their jurisdiction. They walked into the hospital toward the main lobby flashing their badges as they went toward the patient; they knew where he was their handhelds showing directions as it was tied into the building as all hospitals were tied with handhelds normally carried by LEOs across the Colonies.

The hospital was like normal hospitals, the walls were painted white with many pictures strung about of landscapes to calm and make patients feel comfortable. It was a larger building housing many units and wards. It had the typical maternity ward, radiation ward, and psychiatric ward where Agent Geeman has been to interview suspects confined there to gain a psychological profile. It featured advanced medical technologies including neural controlled prosthetic limbs that acted and could feel like normal ones, artificial skin and even artificial organs that were grown.

Soon they approached the room where Ramsef was held. Black uniformed Hypatia Police Officers stood at the door and in the room always watching every move to ensure that he doesn't harm himself; or someone doesn't get pissed and try to harm him. Agent Geeman recalled an incident in which a trained professional Ha'la'tha hit squad broke into another hospital on Nosami on the northern continent of Rissa. There was an arms dealer there who held vital info on dealings with other high profile groups. Instead of letting him give the info away they broke into the hospital; killed the receptionist, the nurses taking care of him and even the cops guarding the man before killing the dealer himself. Eventually the Tauron military took care of the hit squad as police were unable to. It was considered one of the most heinous acts in Tauron history.

Both Agents flashed their badges to the cops and they split aside letting the two agents through. Agent Vidda walked through the white curtain to see the man lying on the bed. He looked a little different; his facial hair has grown considerable and medical instruments were hooked up. He was handcuffed to the bed to prevent escape and had a machine that would place a sedative should he try to do something stupid. He turned his dark bearded face toward the two agents and stared them dead in the eyes. He knew the female with dark hair and slightly dark skin. She was the one who shot him in both knees putting him out. He would not walk for a long time and was tired of keeping his tracks clean. He knew he was busted for good.

"My name is Agent Sarah Vidda with FCIS and this is Agent Geeman. Obviously you know why you're here and what you're being charged with so I will get right to the point. If you cooperate; I am sure we can work out a deal. If you don't; then you will be branded a terrorist like the other two people buying from you and sent to rot in a cell on Minos until you are probably either killed by other prisoners or summarily executed." She moved closer to his ear to whisper. "Some of those prisoners enjoy impalement and human sacrifice!" She said truthfully. The Minos High Max Prison was an underground prison on Minos where they had free reigns in their cells. Only the worst criminals go there; terrorists, rapists, murderers, and child molesters get sent there. It was described as Hades, the most damned place ever.

Ramsef Ulluk trembled nervously at those words. He had heard rumors of how harsh Tauron justice could be compared to his homeworld of Canceron. There was the prison colony on Troy, the gulags on the Dust Fields and finally the Minos High Max Prison where they would never see sun or starlight again. Ramsef felt himself break down emotionally inside; he was beaten and caught up with and knew to chose the easy way out.

"I will talk." He said with a raspy voice that told other he was under intense psychological stress. Resistance to him was not an option; he was caught but would figure out a deal to survive.

"Good." Agent Sarah Vidda smiled. "I will tell you this; if you lie to me; I will make sure your stay is prolonged more miserable." She smiled wickedly. "First question; who were those guys you were selling weapons to?"

"They are clients, people from the Saggiteron Liberation Front. They offered over ten thousand cubits for Cylon weapons, it was supposed to be a secure deal sell, get the money and go. I didn't know them by name just by association." He said truthfully. "I didn't really like them; just the money they were offering me."

"Good, now for another question." Agent Geeman said. "Where did you get the Cylon weapons from?"

"I got them from the Lightning. Captain Harold Kloder sells them to us for money and we sell them to our buyers. That's the ship Zarek is on. You know, I hope you get them I never really liked that Zarek guy anyway. My friend's wife was killed in that bombing he made on Saggiteron; I would have loved to have shot him in the head." He said grudgingly.

"What do you know about Zarek?"

"I can tell you he is doing more than just helping the crew gather weapons from old derelict Cylon baseships from the war. Him and that Hillis guy too they're up to something a lot more than scavenging tech. I don't even think the rest of their crew knows either. If you guys want to really get somewhere you should look at those two, the rest of the Lightning is a scavenging operation on the side. Only reason why it went on so long is because the Captain spreads the cubits evenly and isn't greedy like most others are. There was a time after I collected some Cylon technology from the Lightning I saw Hilis and a guy named Jerry Alaxis talking, he is another client never told us who he worked for but always came up with good sums of money for tech. He acts weird. I never seen two different clients talk like the way they were. Something else is up."

The Agents looked at each other in subtle curiosity for a moment. Agent Geeman felt this investigation was going to get big, and he meant BIG. "Do you know any other arms dealers he sells for?" He asked.

"Can you get me protective custody?" Ramsef asked in the typical low Canceron accent.

Agent Vidda's eyes rose at the question. "What for, is someone after you?" She asked.

"No but I am sure that Jerry Alaxis is someone not to mess with. I think they are working for a bigger fish. Frak they are even bigger than Zarek." He said nervously. "I will tell you more if you get me to a secure location." He said.

Agent Vidda pulled out her cell phone to call Agent Tibbs. She was a bit more worried now and ready to further everything. She dialed the number and quickly got him on the line as she walked toward the window; looking down at the streets below while Agent Geeman continued to talk to the suspect.

"Whaddya got?" He said in his typical demeanor.

"We've got a problem here." She said.

"Well what is it Agent Vidda?"

"It looks like we have a connection between Hillis Tillmer and Jerry Alaxis. According to Ramsef they are part of a bigger group; we should look deeper in those two I knew something was fishy with those two."

"Okay; you two get back over here and let's go over this. I am going to authorize a raid on the ship soon as it lands at the Aerospace Center."

"He also wants to be in protective custody with us; he is willing to talk more; says he's scared of Hillis and Jerry; says they are very dangerous; even more so than Zarek. I know your gut Tibbs; you know something is wrong I can tell." She said.

Tibbs paused for a moment to consider it. He had authorization to place a suspect within full FCIS custody and there was already a room underground he could get arranged to do just that. "Good arrange for him to be on a transport by 2300 tonight to here." He said finally hanging up. She saw the short haired Agent Geeman walk toward her.

"What did boss say?"

"He approved for Hillis to be in protective custody with us. Go get an ambulance to transport him to HQ and we will be escort. Have three cops be in that ambulance watching him at all times."

"On it." He said as he walked off.

Bunker Compound- Kobol

Warmaster Jha'dur calmly walked though the concrete drab walls of the bunker compound. The whole place was built like a fortress; just a decade after the planet was discovered long ago. She was generally pleased with events here; this area of space was surprisingly calm well away from the boundaries of other races and even in hyperspace they would not be able to reach the tachyon beacon network placed here by the Dilgar. It was thousands of lightyears even from the boundaries of the most rimward species and only two thousand light years from Earth Alliance space. Only two races that would potentially cause problems were the Colonials and the Cylons. The latter was already being taken care of and the Colonies she would deal with in short order. Many batches of biological weapons were being prepared and would be delivered on Colonial Raptors the Cylons seemed to have in good supply. In the back of her mind she would have wished to wait until they would destroy each other however; she didn't want them to have fifteen star systems in one cluster with a multitude of resources. It was too high of a risk.

She found the Cylons were an easy target; their command structure could easily be broken and their tactics involved nothing more than infiltrating the Colonies and crippling the defense network on their ships with a backdoor program. The Cylons attempted to do such acts with captured Dilgar computers against ships and fleets but due to the cunning will of a couple Warmasters they failed miserable. Jha'dur was proud for creating a biological agent she found off of the Lion's Head Beacon; a tachyon beacon left behind by the Thirteenth Tribe on their way to Earth. She knew they contaminated it on purpose as a bioweapon against Kobol during their little war against each other over two thousand years ago. Over the years she created several strains of it that made Cylon organic technology necrotize from the inside out. She was glad to find that their programming was susceptible to emotions including fear and terror which she proudly induced among them. The name Deathwalker struck fear in them as much as it did in the League and it made her happy.

She looked at the four guards stationed at the sliding doors where the prisoner sat. She knew him fairly well; after he was captured on a Cylon Baseship in the first days of their conquest against the Cylons. "Is he strapped the medical instruments?" She asked one of the guards; Gen'lire; a Dilgar soldier she knew was wounded in combat against Earth Alliance forces but managed to be enough to assist Jha'dur in experiments from time to time after it was known he had extensive medical knowledge of humans and figured he would see differences in genetics of the two separated human races.

"I hooked him up Warmaster. Every sensor is active and ready." He said softly. He had suffered quite severe injuries in the conflict but still held through. The Imperium still found use for him and placed him with Jha'dur.

"Good; go to the monitoring station and watch. I will be with the prisoner." She said flatly

"Yes Warmaster." He said without hesitation and ran off to the station several rooms down.

"Guards; open the doors. Stand outside and wait till I return is that clear?"

"Yes it is Warmaster." They all said in unison and stood against the wall facing the door.

Warmaster Jha'dur went through the sliding door to see the black long hair figure known as Daniel Novacek. He had changed much since his capture aboard the Baseship; Jha'dur observed him still resisting; his mind still strong after years of abuse, torture, isolation and degradation. He spent most of his time exercising in his cell; still confident he could get out and take revenge on the Dilgar. She sometimes had fun with Dilgar who screwed up too badly; she would place former officers and once even a Warmaster on occasion who went against her too much in a cell with him to see how long they would last. She would smile in sick satisfaction as Daniel would beat and rip them apart mercilessly. It was a game to her for those that had no use in Lab 9; she lied to the other Dilgar and said if they can kill the Special Forces operative they get another chance. Even if they did kill Daniel they would still be experiments for Lab 9 on her ship.

She stared into Daniel's eyes, his staring back her coldly and in anger. To him he wanted to break out of the bonds and rip out her throat with his bare hands. He noticed she enjoyed the sick game of seeing him fight out and murder Dilgar who have failed the Imperium.

"What sick joke are you going to do to me now? I have not told you anything for the past four years and I still won't tell you anything now." He said defiantly like he had for years. It didn't matter to Jha'dur she had all of the information on the Colonies she needed. There was the memory download technology the Cylons had that her scientists had managed to reverse engineer. They didn't manage to use it on Daniel but the copy that was made by the scientists did; allowing her to see into their operations a bit more before she sent the Spectres. Daniel was not aware of the process; she wanted to keep him out of it and had him asleep during the process. It was not normal but necessary for the development of her research.

"Nahhh I just wanted a visit." She shrugged. "I see you still enjoy your cell, you amaze me still alive not giving up; always hopeful that your friends will still come for you." She barred her teeth. "You know Daniel; I destroyed the Cylons you should be thankful; they went from an issue to an issue solved."

Daniel was still silent at her words. He kept focus on her and on his thoughts. Sometimes he knew by not thinking at all it made everything go by faster. This time he kept onto his anger; it would keep him alive.

"Did you know they were planning on wiping out your race? I did the Colonies a favor; well I guess you can call it a favor; the Cylons still stood in my way like most other species I have seen."

"You're no better than they are." He snarled.

"Good I am glad you say that because I am better than they are. I have single handily destroyed billions! I have murdered more civilizations than the Cylons murdered Colonials during their little rebellion. My death tally stands at over fifty billion and I plan on adding over thirty-billion to that number." She said clearly implying what she planned to do with the Colonies.

"You will still get nowhere; even if the Colonies find out what you did with the Cylons they will still come after you. It all will get you nowhere and they will slaughter you."

Jha'dur shrugged again. She had a good plan for the Colonies and soon it would be enacted. "I will keep you around personally Daniel. I have made great progress with you; I like the additions you made to my experiments."

"How; by cutting my head open; why the frak do you keep me alive and not just kill me now? I am sure you have everything you wanted from me."

"Do you wish death?" She asked him flatly.

"Yes I do!" He snapped trying to intimidate the Warmaster into killing him or trying to do more.

"Good; wish granted." She said without hesitation as she pulled her sidearm and fired three blue bolts into his chest. She would have liked to do a headshot but was unsure if it would damage the process if the brain was damaged. She took pause to look over the body; feeling nothing after taking a life even a human one of the race she admired for their courage and attitude.

"Is he dead?" She asked Gen'lire over the intercom.

"He is Warmaster. I have all the data you need." Gen'lire said.

"Very good; I will be heading to the Ressurrection Chamber hopefully my latest experiment was a success. Keep monitoring him there too I have a lot of data I want to review." She said smiling.

She exited the room and noticed the guard about to enter to remove the body. "Leave it in there." She said. "Don't worry about why just keep it in there." She said calmly as the guards complied without question.

She moved down the hallway toward another room underground. Her Spectres accompanied her wherever she went. Sha'dur was at another facility looking at his theories of hyperspace physics, creating a breakthrough he would like to share with her at a later time. His work had improved the Imperium greatly; with FTL drives worlds which were unreachable by the Dilgar were colonized. They had even scouted worlds within League space which could be used as platforms for invasions should the Armistice end. She remained quiet as she walked town the hallway this time it was covered in metal and concrete; it was deep underground able to offer protection from orbital strikes and nuclear weapons. A very special room was constructed here where she could continue her research. The Spectre Arn'dal opened it without question revealing a vast interior; similar to the interior of Resurrection Ships but with a more Dilgar feel. Around each tub was a vast assortment of sensor equipment, Tachyon receivers and organic wiring designed to handle massive loads of information. It was a pinnacle of development created by the twin Warmasters while fleets battled the Cylons far away.

She walked toward a black tank that was covered in an orange gel including the inside of the tank which was a mixture of organic gel and warm liquid to keep the cloned bodies in good condition. This was her latest work; something she wanted to test for a while. She looked at the body in the tank; a perfect clone of Daniel grown after a couple years of trials and errors. It was the reason why she kept him alive and separate from other experiments. She wanted him to be a part of this. It would allow her to understand the principles behind Resurrection so she could implement them with her race. "Are the memory banks ready?" She asked her assistant in the other room.

"They are." He said.

"Then wake him. Let's see if this worked out after all." She ordered.

Gen'lire complied and activated the control to allow the memory transfer to be complete. She watched with interest as the cloned human woke up thrashing about violently in the pool coughing and gagging from the shock of being transferred. He regained composure and looked at his surroundings first completely in shock; then turned to look at Jha'dur dead in the eyes. "What in the frak did you do to me?" He said still coughing.

"You know; the Cylons had a process like this. Every time one died their mind would be transferred to a new body on a ship or planet. I have always wanted to replicate that; that's why I kept you alive. You are my latest work and it was a success." She gloated happily. "Spectres take him to his cell and let him look at his dead body for a while; hopefully I will see how I can get Resurrection to work for us. I have always wondered though; why have you held out for so long?" She asked curious about the psychology of strength in extreme cases. She had pulled up cases from Earth of people enduring years of torture and deprivation at the hands of enemies and came out stronger then before. "Wait" She shouted to the Spectres. "There was a saying in the Colonies; fear gets you killed, anger keeps you alive. Is that why you can't break human? Because you keep that anger in you no matter what is done?" She asked him as they then continued pulled him out the room on her orders. He never answered instead he just stared at her; with a stare of pure desire for revenge and anger. She really didn't need any information from him; she had all she needed. She placed him in a Dilgar variation of a memory downloader the Cylons had which copied his memories and downloaded them. It was taking a while but soon the Intelligence officers would have all they needed.

Fesra Moonlabs- Helios System

"Well; we did it we managed to solve one mystery." Sarah Garnder said raising a glass of wine to toast Doctor Gaius Baltar. For weeks they have been working on the Kobolian Satellite; the artifact found in the same system as the Mercury when she was attacked. When intact computer systems were still in there the Colonial Department of Defense and the Secretary of War had sent Baltar there to hopefully get some data off of the artifact and he did.

"Well I never figured I would work with an archeologist; I am pleased your skills have helped a lot." He said with his accent; but little did others know it was a faked southern Caprican accent not the Areleron accent he had natively. Gauis Baltar was the leading computer programmer for the Colonial Department of Defense. He wrote and helped upgrade software for most of the Fleet and Marines; even helping to advance the Advanced Warfighter Project creating new software programs designed to allow soldiers and those in the fleet better battlefield operations.

"So who are we gonna place bets for who will win the contract to build the first Tachyon Tranciever?" Doctor Allen Wrayne said tilting his glasses up and taking another drink.

"I will bet four hundred Cubits that StellerCom will get it." Sarah said placing her bet on the table.

"CID has first take; they always do." Baltar quipped.

"NetBeam stands a chance; StellerCom is a piece of frakking shit you cant get signal off of them on a clear sunny day and their customer service absolutely blows; bunch of retards with not even a fifth grade education!" Allen Wrayne laughed as he set another bunch of coins down.

"Well I will tell you this; we sure as hell are gonna get a frakking bonus for this. Those companies will pay millions for a contract to get something like this."

"And the Defense Department will purchase them like mad." Baltar said. "We will be rich after this!" He laughed along with the rest of them. It would be a cycle of sorts with the bids. The largest communication companies would get the contracts to build, use, and sell the tachyon transceivers while their own research teams would work with the CSD on finding ways of creating better versions. The Defense Department would then get contracts with one or more companies in providing military-grade tachyon equipment for its ships while other federal agencies would do the same, or purchase them from the military. It would just take a year for it to spread out on the market and for the Colonies to be linked by FTL communications instead of having Colonial Couriers go back and forth between systems like they did for the past couple centuries.

"Remember guys; we have only cracked a small piece of the puzzle. Let us see what else this technology can do down the line." Allen said taking another sip. He was glad to have such a great team to work with. Baltar was already trying to crack that alien fighter's computer. It didn't take him long to crack the computer of the tachyon beacon; he with Sarah had determined it was a tachyon transceiver designed to broadcast and receive transmissions and relay them to other beacons. Already he uncovered a stellar map of every other beacon and there were lots. However they were many light years away and it would be a surprise if the Colonial Science Directorate would send an expedition into possible alien territory.

"Anyone planning on taking some vacation time? I know I sure am." Doctor Wrayne asked,

"I will be visiting my fiancée; he is in the fleet and serving on Galactica." Sarah Garnder said pleasantly.

"Galactica?" Baltar asked in earnest. "That ship is old it's been around since the First Cylon War." He said; having knowledge of history.

"Yep." She said smiling. "It's reactivated; even older ships are getting reactivated since the Mercury was lost." She recalled.

"When are you two tying the knots?" Doctor Wrayne asked.

"Next year; we are heading to Picon and having the wedding on a cruise ship. We planned a big one; we are getting a cruise liner and heading out in the middle of their largest ocean and having it on the main deck at night; in the hemisphere where you can see the stars and nebula really good." She smiled on the thought. It had been planned since they have been together so many years ago.

"Good; you should invite us." Doctor Allen agreed smiling.

"Anybody else going to enjoy marriage soon?"

"Nahhh." Baltar said. "I have too much in the way of my work."

"Frak you Baltar!" She joked. "They say you have a woman every other night!" She continued.

"I guess intelligence attracts after all!" He laughed in his accent. Dr. Baltar was known for his escapades with women everywhere. As a celebrity it was fairly common but his smarts were known to be the main reason for attracting so many women.

"So what does your fiancée do on the Galactica?"

"He's a Viper pilot; one of the best right next to Thrace." She said; recalling she has met and is good friends with her while still engaged to Spencer.

"Good luck to both of you." He said smiling and raising a glass. Their team was going to be one of the best.

Deep space- Three light years from Armistice Line

In the depths of space many light years from any of the Twelve Colonies or their smaller holdings three ships drifted in space. One was a giant compared to the other; easily dwarfing the two smaller ships. One would not be able to notice the other as its hull was painted in all black and had plating on it designed purely for the purposes of stealth and infiltration; and equipped with the best state-of-the-art sensors the Colonial Forces could provide.

Admiral Thomas Haines stood calmly in the CIC of the Triton; taking notice of the lights and DRADIS readings. The Phemos and the Diplomatic Group would jump fifteen light years to a system across the Line and transmit a message declaring peace on all frequencies. The Phemos would shadow behind her and if no contacts would be made would jump to the next system. The process would repeat for the next couple days and if no Cylon contacts were being made; it would be made clear to him they were either not interested in answering; moved away from the general area of space; or worse, destroyed either by the aliens or maybe another force out there. People manned the stations in front of him; relaying information between all three ships. Right now the rest of his Battlestar Group along with the 4th Fleet was stationed at Polarn just several lightyears from their position.

"Rosebird reports they are ready for jump." Lieutenant Mandy Yillimer said. Rosebird was the codeword used in this mission to represent the Diplomatic ship and Phemos. Falcon was going to be used to represent the Phemos separately while Pigeon would be used to represent the Diplomatic Liner.

"Tell them to jump; wish them safe hunting." He ordered the young communications officer from Leonis.

"Aye sir both ships have jumped." She stated.

"Good; when are the new guys supposed to arrive?" The Admiral asked plainly.

"Right now sir; Vanguard Transport Aces have just jumped in." She said with a slight tinge of her Leonis accent.

"Tell our new guests to come right to the CIC."

Within moments the glass doors to the CIC slid open to reveal two people in sharp Colonial Officers uniforms. Admiral Haines took notice of their appearance; one was a taller built guy with dark skin and a noticeable tattoo; obviously of Tauron origin and he saw the Major pins on his collar. His head was shaved; looked like a recent sharp cut. The other man was slightly older but with dark hair. His skin was whiter; his skin looked like he was a man of hard work and labors for so long it made it thick and hard. Both stood at the entryway; noticing the Admiral staring at them and both saluted. "Sir; Commander Allen Bell and Major Quae Leslo reporting for duty." He said sharply staring the Admiral in the eyes.

"Welcome aboard. You seem to have found the CIC of a Mercury pretty well; most officers normally had trouble finding it and get lost. Hell one guy somehow wound up in the engineering section." He joked remembering the times new officers would get lost.

"I served on a Mercury sir." Commander Bell said flatly.

"I see; I will brief you two personally in a bit. I would like to introduce you to the rest of the CIC staff; the short haired lady over there at the communications console is Lt. Yillimer, the guy at the nav is Lieutenant Lansley and finally our tactician the other female is Captain Hillier." He said as they acknowledged the officers. "Everyone; this is our new executive officer; Commander Bell, and our new CAG; Major Quae Leslo. They have come from the Mercury and will bring a lot of experience and knowledge in our missions and will be able to help us in any circumstance. They both served the Mercury well and I know they will serve us well as we will serve them. You two can come with me to the Officers Conference room where I can brief you on this mission." He said as they all walked toward the conference room.

` "Great crew; looks like everyone has heard of us." Commander Bell said.

"They have; word has spread around the Fleet that you and Major Leslo saved hundreds. I knew Commander Keller he was a good man." He said as he opened the hatch to the conference room. "Take a seat and relax for a bit; I'm sure it has been a long journey for both of you." He said in his deep voice.

"It was; I am glad to at least have an assignment now instead of going through all kinds of medical procedures to get back in the fight Admiral."

"I know how it can be; so you have an idea of how their ships fight; you can probably devise ways to help defend ourselves if we meet them again I would like to hear them sometime; feel free to write out a report or give briefings."

"I will do that sir." He said. Already analysis's and tacticians were looking at reports; videos, and other aspects of the Mercury's battle with the alien forces to get a better feel on what to put in new manuals and battle simulations for dealing with them. Already basic instructions were given out but it would be a while before advanced measures were going to be in place.

"Major; you have seen their fighters; how would you rate them?" The Admiral asked leaning back in the chair along with the other two officers.

"I would say they are about as good as ours; their weapons are advanced but their armor is weak. They have a definite speed advantage but we have a good maneuverability advantage over them. A good pilot can take out a few fighters; our pilots kept knocking them out of the sky in the engagement. I would say with their skills I have seen they only have basics where we do advanced training like we have always done. Keeping our pilots up to skill is always the best idea."

"Can you brief our pilots based on what you saw and create training on it?" Admiral Haines asked.

"Of course; I have all my notes still on them." Major Leslo stated.

"How good was pilot's accuracy under you Major?

"Around 85 percent Sir we had a first line ship with first line pilots." He stated proudly of his pilots.

"Good; think you can get our pilots accuracy up to ninety?" Admiral Haines suggested.

"It's a challenge but I always like a good challenge in front of me." The Major stated. He always enjoyed training with his fellow pilots; keeping them up to speed and creating new scenarios to see how they would play out.

Admiral Haines smiled. "Good I will brief you on the mission." He said. He told them the mission briefing and details along with the facts that the Phemos is assigned to them temporarily and that it was now a diplomatic mission to contact the Cylons; or see if they are still out there. "Do you guys have any questions of me?"

"Good; I'm glad to have you guys in my crew. I am sure this mission will turn up something."

"Do you think we will fight them Admiral?" Major Leslo asked referring to the aliens. He only asked to see what the Admiral's views were as each one was different.

"You want revenge too don't you?" The Admiral asked calmly.

Major Leslo decided to pause on the question for a bit. "Yes; in a way I do want revenge. They slaughtered good men and almost slaughtered civilians. This crime shouldn't go unpunished Sir."

"You know I can understand too. The Mercury was a good ship first in its class; Remember the Mercury is starting to become a saying among military and Fleet throughout the Colonies calling for action. I know Adar too well; he has been itching for a war footing since he took office and he won't let something like this go by him. With the Federalists in office in control of the People's Council and the Quorum wars are more likely now but he wants at least a diplomatic attempt first if possible. He is smart; not a moron like the past two presidents we've had. Honestly I do see a war looming on the horizon; and it's sure not going to be the frakking Cylons this time. I am sure you two know with what you saw on the Mercury that there are far more dangerous people than Cylons." He said. Major Leslo knew it was not going to be long before he would see action again.

Stealth Scoutstar Phemos- Designated System Yanzga

Yanzga was the Colonial designation for systems in the Cylon sphere of influence on their side of the Armistice Line. Many Colonial Admirals had stellar cartographers create such designations for military and civilian identification use. Yanzga was a simple blue giant star which contained a few outer gas giants. An asteroid belt orbited further out past the last gas giant; probes were already on automated scan to return.

"Do we have anything on DRADIS?" Major Kaan's had asked his Tactical Officer; Captain Onsman.

"Negative Sir; nothing on DRADIS and the Ocean Queen reports no contacts or radio transmissions of any kind." The short officer stated.

"It's like searching for a minnow in a sea of blugill." The ship's navigation officer; Captain Ludek stated with the common phrase from Virgon that got spread out through the Colonies.

"We still have three other systems to look at today; one of them has something." Captain Onsman stated. "It cant just be empty out here."

"We have been here for the past few hours; the radio signals would have traveled this part of the system by now I am sure someone would have noticed it. We wait one more hour. If no response then tell the Ocean Queen to jump to the next system; our automated probes will remain on standby until our return should they find something." Major Kaan's ordered in his sharp carrying voice.

They waited; focusing on the various screens, looking at various data reports for even the slightest anomalous activity. There was still nothing. A comet slowly passed underneath the two ships as its orbit would swing it around and back out of the system. Every occasion a probe would send a data burst toward the Phemos but it was normal; some contained resources and traces of Tylium or other radioactive ores but no sings of Cylon activity past or present. Everything was still silent and they anticipated it would still be that way for a while.

"Well it's been over an hour and no response. I think its time we move."Capt. Onsman suggested.

"Second systems a shot; coordinates for Guzata are inputted and ready. We can jump on your command Major." The taller Navigation Officer stated.

"Start the countdown timer and have the Ocean Queen do the same. Have the probes remain passive for now so they conserve power and remain hidden. I don't want any hostiles getting any info on us from those probes." Major Kaans ordered. It was standard protocol for the ship to have all probes go on standby; their power sources being minimal until they would activate them again. The Phemos contained a good number of such probes; being small as a pyramid ball but packed with sensors and solar collectors.

The countdown timer for the FTL drives started moving. Within a few minutes it reached zero and both ships disappeared as the blinding light of a stable wormhole enveloped them….

…..And deposited them right above a grey colored gas giant with a large blue moon orbiting it. Sunlight easily peered through the clouds to reveal an ocean below. Most of the planet was ocean with very little land mass being seen.

"Major…. I am picking up multiple radiation signatures…. They are scattered around the orbit of the gas giant and some of the moons. None appear to be active power sources just remnants. Ocean Queen is picking up the same thing. You should take a look at some of the videos Sir." Capt. Onsman said flatly; surprised by the activity on her screens.

Major Kaans looked through some of the video feeds. Cameras did an auto-zoom on the seemingly obvious remains of a ship it looked like an arrow pointing in a direction with a white cloud of debris behind it giving it the appearance of a comet. Some pieces of green and yellow wreckage floated about; the telltale signs of a battle taking place in this system long ago. He let out a deep sigh of frustration and sadness. He knew what it was there was no denying it now. "Tell the Ocean Queen to transmit radio messages. Keep on a loop for three hours; send probes to look at debris and get a closer examination." He said; praying that maybe someone was alive could give some answer even though he never liked the Cylons and believed they would come after the Colonies. Those views were starting to change with the recent events of the Mercury's destruction and now this.

"My Gods what the frak happened here?" Lt. Robert Judds asked in shock. He was the ships communications officer a native of Ragnor one of the few people born in that system as it was mostly military.

"A battle; we don't need to guess who was fighting who." Major Kaans stated. "Have we picked up any signs of the alien ships?" He continued.

"Negative; nothing else on DRADIS; Ocean Queen is spooling up FTLs incase we encounter hostiles." Captain Onsman stated; looking at information from the Ocean Queen and other screens which gave her tremendous amounts of information which she could review and relay.

"Then we continue to wait here; after this I will send for an FTL shuttle to send word to the Tri…"

"Major! We are picking up a ship far range of DRADIS heading straight toward us." Captain Onsman shouted interrupting the Major.

"Can you identify it; is it one of the aliens?" He asked.

"Negative Sir… I am picking up a message; its Cylon…" She replied; looking at the Major who was now very clearly surprised at the turn of events.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

A couple hours earlier…

"In most of these systems we did battle against the Dilgar they never really held or even tried so much as to establish a mining colony. They just wiped out our forces there and left. In the fifteen systems we have used on this side of Cryannus they wiped out; they only kept two; maybe three. It's amazing; why not establish a hold?" Diana asked; still questioning the motives of the aliens that had them beaten while still keeping her focus on the Raider; the smooth ride giving her an erie calm.

"They don't want to risk the chance of the Colonies probing around I guess; they got all they wanted from us our technology; our Centurions, our ships, and even Resurrection. Now they just want us extinct like the rest of the races they have eliminated." Melissa said with her accent. Her model was mostly used to emulate Aeleron accents and pose as simple females wanting to make a professional living be it news, farming or military. The Three's were smart, analytical and tactful with much experience in science, strategies, and information gathering.

"Well hopefully those FTL readings we found are in fact them. They are appearing in and out of the Armistice Line so it must be them."

The two Cylons sat in the Heavy Raider while Sharon piloted. For a while they had tried and tried again to find the Colony but to no avail. They were all angry at Cavil for simply leaving them there to rot but many questions still lingered in their thoughts. If he wanted to leave it why didn't he take the Salvation system shipyards, mining stations or manufacturing facilities? It made no sense but they all deduced he must have been so mad as to simply jump away and not worry about any of the other models or what was going on here. In other words he wanted to start a brand new life for him and his cronies.

After the First Cylon war; the Cylons put a series of detection buoys along the Armistice Line that were good enough to detect FTL jumps thirty lightyears out including radiation signatures, gravity wave changes and tachyon transmissions. The latter was for in case the Colonies developed the technology or if maybe a surviving remnant of the original tribes was elsewhere and wandered into the sector. The Cylons knew there were more humans that left other than the 12 Tibes. The Armistice Line divided the Cyrannus Cluster into two parts. On the Colonies side they had fifteen star systems under their control including the 12 Colonies. On the other was the ten systems the Cylons originally held before the Dilgar came in and rampaged through the sector. The Armistice Line faced Spinward while the Dilgar came in Rimward; bypassing many buoys Coreward. Now the Cylons were driven back completely Rimward and only had the black hole and Salvation system where it was hoped no Dilgar patrols would go.

However the Dilgar didn't destroy the buoys or sensor grids which allowed the Cylons to connect with them to monitor some Dilgar activity going on. Now; they picked up a series of FTL jumps originating in Colonial Space heading Antispinward past the Armistice Line. Melissa along with the others agreed ever since the Mercury was destroyed the Colonies must have decided to see if the Cylons knew anything. It was a good opportunity to make contact. This was just a simple scouting mission now; if the Colonials were found then they would send a signal and hopefully speak to one of them. Melissa knew it would be a strange meeting; no Colonial has seen a Cylon in almost forty years. There would be a lot more questions from them than from her and she was being ready for it. She knew exactly what to say and could only pray to God they would gain her trust.

The Heavy Raider passed a couple large asteroids orbiting a gas giant in a system that the Cylons really had no interest in. It was dead; had no resources and orbited a dying red giant star. The two inner planets were completely swallowed by the sun long ago. The moons or asteroids never held anything useful either and it was ruled as a dead system…

… But it was good cover; no Dilgar bases were here and no fleets were known to patrol this area of space. There was a system only five light years away which had a known base; it was also the same planet where Melissa saw the ruins from a civilization that never achieved more than pre-spaceflight capability. When the Cylons went to look they found out that the species was destroyed long ago by a side effect of a vaccine for a disease. She was thankful at least no more traces of either the disease of vaccine existed for Jha'dur to use; she was still surprised that the species was human and that scared her making her realize that there could be far bigger fish than the Colonies, or even the Dilgar themselves.

It was time to jump to another system. Sharon focused on the system and plotted a course which would bring it within a gas giant's radiation belt; however the Heavy Raider had a special material which helped protect it against radiation. It would obscure even FTL and hyperspace signatures; the latter the Cylons have only started to test. The only hyperdrive capable starships were at Salvation Shipyards still undergoing testing. Sharon closed her eyes to focus and told the ship to jump. It vanished….

…And reappeared right in the shadow of the gas giant. "Perfect; a hidden jump!" She thought quietly to herself. "DRADIS is picking up nothing and neither are tachyons sensors… wait…. We have a contact; single contact away from our direction opposite our heading." Sharon stated firmly.

"Is it Dilgar?" Both Cylons asked in unison.

"No…. It's a Colonial transponder; I am detecting a single ship too; it's a Diplomatic Liner.."

"One of their diplomatic ships I remember them they were in service before the unification of the Colonies. That means if they send one out there should be a couple military vessels escorting them; probably hidden or under stealth; I am patching the transmission now…

"_This is the Colonial Diplomatic Liner Ocean Queen to any ships that might be in the area we are transmitting a message under a flag of peace. We are not hostile or armed; we desire contact with forces in the area to explore options of cooperation and peace…. I repeat again…."_

"It's a repeated transmission; no Dilgar ships in the area I think this is genuine. Shall I send a message back?" Sharon asked looking sharply at Melissa; she was in charge of this operation.

"Yes I'll go ahead and do it." She placed herself in the datastream and started to focus. She got with the Heavy Raider's wireless and sent a message..

"_This is Melissa of the Cylons. I have received your transmission and wish for a desire to meet in peace. We have much to talk about can we are requesting permission to dock." _She waited for a response. Soon enough one came; this time it was a male's gruff voice.

"_We are ready; you may dock now at once. I am transmitting to you standard docking port clearences now and will meet you at the airlocks. There is a lot to discuss." _

She received the docking coordinates and used the neural linkage with the ship to carefully pilot it to the starboard docking port. Instructions were received automatically and she made some decisions herself. She decided not to have Centurions present on the ship, instead just have them remain in the Heavy Raider for further instruction. Second was to gain the trust of the Colonies in any way possible. She only knew the reason why so many Cylons went humanoid was due to the fact that they wished to be more human. She and Melissa felt Cavil knew more but he never said anything. They were glad he left now; after seeing his betrayel and deception. She would tell them of the split in their society and the fact other models left them there after a rift formed in how to conduct the war. She knew exactly which story to tell to gain their trust and to make them come out as genuine; which hopefully the in-system debris should tell too. A few battles did take place in this system after all.

The Heavy Raider moved slowly above the Ocean Queen; Melissa taking note of its beauty. It was large and she was sure the inside was quite spacious. It was painted white and blue with windows along the sides so passengers could see the stars and planets. The engine block had a black number imprinted in it telling of its registry which in this case was the Colonial Diplomatic Corps. It carefully glided through space and turned so the rear end was facing the docking port. It extended a docking tunnel and allowed the organic portion to seal itself with with the outer docking portion of the Ocean Queen. The floor solidified and the artificial gravity activated. Melissa detached herself from the datastream and opened the rear hatch. Sharon remained behind while Diana and Melissa got up and started to walk out the back. The extension was covered in a type of material designed to withstand vacuum and high pressure; being a reactive type of material. They continued to the metal hatched and opened it; revealing the hallway to a beautiful interior they were sure.

Another hatched opened revealing two human figures. One was a taller man with dark hair with a tint of grey which showed his age to be in his late 40s. He had glasses on and visible wrinkles were on his arms and under his eyes however he stood and carried himself well. He appeared to be in great health and he seemed to be the type to exercise daily. He wore a black suit and had a glance at them which meant business. For a moment his face clearly registered shock upon seeing the two human  
Cylon models but he still kept it contained within him and continued on his business. The female didn't seem to be too shocked. She had long hair and was taller which truly showed her professionalism; determination, and knowledge. Melissa was certain of the Colonials knowing of experiments the Cylons did to try to become human since the start of the war as it was fairly public knowledge, even before the war started. Many companies including Greystone Industries were working on ways to create artificial humans.

"My name is Melissa; I know our appearances may shock you and we will explain ourselves in due time; however as you can probably tell by looking outside we have been through a lot. We have learned through intelligence of the aliens that you were attacked by them recently; which is why we are here. We are here on a flag of truce like you are.

"I think this will be better discussed in a conference room follow me and we can begin from there." The older man said.

Both Cylons were amazed by the internal appearance of the ship. The hallways were painted blue and red while the carpet had red lining. Drapes were everywhere symbolizing comfort and peace; the mission of the Diplomatic Corps. Leather chairs and decorated tables were around the dining room of the ship where cooks started to prepare meals. They passed a lounge area where there were couches and chairs sitting next to a fireplace but the actual fire was just a projected image; a type of heater that looked like a typical fireplace; another addition to the ship which would provide a sense of comfort and relaxation. Paintings were on the wall depicting various types of business conduct; old meetings between the Colonies before the Unification were hanging on the wall depicting handshakes and signings of important documents; peace accords, treaties, etc. Some were old fashioned and showed dress of times so long ago on Colonies like Caprica and Virgon when they had individual nations so many centuries ago. Many were done on old wooden tables with Tamorian style dress including Great Upbringing era coats with the grey hairstyles of such leaders and diplomats.

They approached a wooden door that had the symbol of the Twelve Colonies hanging above the doorframe with flags of the other Colonies shown on it. The door had a metal handle which looked to be gold plated. A gold symbol of the Twleve Colonies was on it too. Philip opened the door which ked to a conference room with a decorated wooden table with a few projectors and computer on it. Leather office chairs surrounded it which gave the place a feel of pure good business. "Please have a seat." The dark haired female told them softly. "I would like to introduce myself; my name is Samantha Shaffon and this is my assistant Philip and we are here with the Colonial Diplomatic Corps. To answer your question we have been attacked by the aliens and were looking for you to determine if you knew about them; which is why we sent an envoy of peace and understanding past the Armistice Line. It took a while but we managed to pressure the government to send us." She added.

"We were actually hoping to find you somewhere along the path; we have had a long journey here." Melissa started. She began to tell her story starting with telling them their desire to become human and still stay separate from the others to the story about how they encountered the aliens with the fact they used bioweapons to kill mass numbers of Cylons; the split in Cylon leadership with the dissapearence of other models on the Colony and Hub. They added that they only had one system left which housed major shipyards and mining facilities; and they they were probably the last of their race.

"They are the Dilgar; ruthless and cunning. They have burned countless worlds before them; and more before burning us to the bone. We managed to get lucky and gain valuable intelligence on them; you should take a look at this." Melissa said as she pulled out a small palmcomp; a type of small computer that was popular in the 12 Colonies. It looked different; thinner and seemed to be made of a type of glass like substance it flashed up and started to play back a video. It was gun camera footage of a raider chasing one of the Dilgar fighters which Melissa called a Thorun; one of their main line fighters. Off in the distance clear Cylon ships were fighting against the green hulled ships the Dilgar used. Blue colored beams shot out from the ships along with pulses of light and struck the Baseships hard; some tearing off of the arms as Cylon missiles made an attempt to impact the large fleet before having most of them shot down by point defenses or other Thoruns. Both Diana and Melissa made sure to bring loads of data on the Cylons using portable hard drives which were Colonial interfacable.

"We only had a limited number of ships; creating organic styled ships was difficult for us so we had to revert to steel and armor, their biological weapons killed off many of us as well as our ships and bases. We're reduced now to a fraction of what we were and even then it wasn't much."

"Do you believe they will use such weapons against us?" Philip asked placing his hands together taking all of the information in. He could tell by the look into their artificial organic eyes they were being honest and sincere.

"Honestly I would say it's extremely likely. They have done it to us; other races and they will do it to you. They want Cryannus to themselves and they will stop at nothing to exterminate your species like they are doing now. There is something else I need to show you… "Melissa then stated while getting a small metal device out of he jacket.

Before she could speak; Samantha was interrupted by a beep at a computer console. She went to it and put an earpiece in to speak to the person on the other line which was Major Kaans. She seemed a bit surprised by the information but relieved; now knowing the Cylons were mostly telling the truth. "Thank you." She said as she put it away and turned back toward the meeting. "That was one of the scientists onboard a science vessel we had jump into the system; the debris were confirmed to be Cylon and 'Dilgar' as you said they would." She decided to omit the information about the Phemos and her mission. There was no need for the Cylons to know about it.

"We have no reason to lie to you!" Diana shouted loudly rising out of her chair; furious the Diplomats or any of the Colonials would suggest anything of the sort.

"It has been almost forty years since we have seen you; we needed to make our own verifications." Philip interjected. "I am sure you would do the same if we switched places." He added. Deep down inside Diana did understand what he was saying.

"I understand." Diana said falling back gently in her seat. "And yes we would have done the same. Humanity is in danger though; if they take your Colonies then there is nothing left to stop them. You should take a hard look at it; as they may have already landed on your worlds and placed themselves within society." Diana said standing up and withdrawing another palmcomp style device. This time it projected a holographic image; it was of one of the aliens in a black colored suit which had an appearance to chainmail only black and changing like a chameleon's skin. The alien was on a ship and all of a sudden turned invisible which stunned the two diplomats at the table. The video switched to the same alien but this time the area around him shimmered and the light flickered as he changed his appearance to that of another person.

"My Gods…" Philip said in shock.

"We have reason to believe they are on your Colonies as we speak. We have the technology to detect them; they stopped doing it after the third one was killed by our Centurions. They are called Spectres and are their equilivant to intelligence agents and assassins. They are probably on your worlds; they tried to infiltrate us it makes sense for them to do it to you to know about you like they did us. They are dangerous too I would exercise extreme caution in dealing with them." Melissa said her accent tightening up a bit.

"I will take the information to our government; as usual we still need to have the Council and Quarom vote before action can be taken." Philip told them directly.

"We understand; I will tell you that they pose a very signifigant threat here; their fleets number in the thousands. We heard about the Mercury and the fight she put up as we have some intelligence assets in Dilgar space." Diana said; knowing some Raiders in deep space between star systems monitoring tachyon transmissions; taking large pieces of information and jumping to a hidden Cylon base also in deep space far away from any system to avoid detection.

"Are they sending any fleets nearby?

"As a matter of fact they are withdrawing; we think they are pulling forces away to avoid further contact so they can commence infiltration operations rather than have an open fight. It surprised us; I figured someone would send a fleet but it looks like their top commanders are smart; they are waiting." Melissa told them both; taking a drink of the ice water the diplomats got for them.

"Waiting for what?"

"Waiting to use their biological weapons on you; cripple you from within. The fastest way to remove a population from an inhabited world is to use whatever biological weapons you have and ensure they don't work against your own species. If their biological weapons can work against us; they can work against you." Diana said.

"How come they haven't done so already?" Samantha asked; she was now really interested in what they had to say.

"Our guess is that it's too early and we are still a threat technically; but they recently wiped out a large portion of our remaining fleet and important assets. We are confined to one system now, and it's far enough not to have any worries about any Dilgar patrols stumbling upon us. Your military forces are the only hope we have left. As a symbol of our jestures and honesty we will provide all intelligence data and files we currently have on the Dilgar. I am sure you will review it and take it into consideration on what you are about to face." Melisa said gravely giving the Colonies a warning about the Dilgar.

"We will gladly accept. I still have to reiterate that all treaties should the come to be must be approved by People's Council and Quarom vote. We will still hope and pray they get passed. I am sure we can provide you safe passage; we have a Battlestar Group across the Line which can escort you to the Colonies to provide safety and to contact representatives of our government.

"We understand; and hope you make the right choice and listen." Diana told them wishing and praying that things would fall in their favor.

Dellstoke's Coffee, Delphi

"So you're in the Fleet huh? My grandfather was in the Caprican Guard as a Captain. He served on the CGS Anvil before the Fifth Colonial Conflict and managed to retire before it started; and held a political office on the Caprican Minister's Council before the Unification." The dark haired woman; Tory Foster said as she took a sip of Caspa Special; a brew of coffee grown on Leonis.

"My father served on the Triton but did civilian work as a Doctor instead of military duties. I joined so I could eventually get the money so I could start my own ship engine design business. I helped on engine designs for the Viper Mark Seven's and the new Raptors during my brief stint in the Reserves before going active. So you want to run for office? I hear it's a tough gig." Galen said freely.

"Yeah for the mayoral position here in Delphi on the Federalist party; I even met Adar a couple times and worked on his campaigns." Tory said. The political system of the Twelve Colonies was a triple party system consisting of the Federalist Party; which was run by mostly conservative leaning hardliners. Typically they would be the ones who would go in support of lesser government restrictions and oversight. They also normally took a stance which made them favorable to many of the large corporations of the Colonies; as they would lower the regulations of what they could and could not do including environmental regulations though most corporations were fairly eco-friendly on planetary operations. Many still chose to do work in space. The other party was the Nationalist Party which was more liberal and desired a military drawback and more of a push toward higher technological development believing the Cylon Rebellion was a one time mistake. They held a harsh view toward business as surpressing the Colonial Worker and had a high support for Unions; and have been involved in strikes across the Colonies. The last party was the Expasionist Party and they were fairly minor; but had a strong influence with hardline military and police forces believing in a push toward the stars and expanding Colonial Sphere's of Influence not only on the main Colonies but some of the smaller outlaying Colonies too. Many also wanted to conduct military action across the Armistice Line and find out what the Cylons were doing the past forty years of 'peace'.

"He's a good man; some of the officers don't think too highly of him; but its part of the political divide. Enlisted will vote for the Feds while Officers vote for the Nationalist Party, it's usually the way it goes. I voted for Adar he makes fairly good decisions and sticks with them; what we needed a leader with frakking balls to get something done." Tyrol stated; having large faith in President Adar. He knew Adama didn't share the same beliefs but officers never discussed politics with enlisted; it was a very taboo subject and no one touched it; only rarely joked about it while off duty.

"I have always enjoyed politics; it is brutal but you can gain a lot from it once you learn how to play the right cards. I want to move slowly; I hope to see major office within twenty years if I keep playing it right."

"And I think you will; you're a damn smart woman and from what I learned last night not afraid to get your hands dirty." He said flirting with her a bit.

"Dirty hands win the most bets." Foster told him directly; quoting a common Virgon saying among attorneys.

"Of course not; you need to do what you need to do. Politics is in my blood I can smell it. I feel it's something the Gods have planned for me from day one; I remember during high school I won student government a lot; even got a medal by the mayor during his visit."

"I got a visit by an Admiral once other than the one I served under back on the Atlantia; inspected me when I taught an engineering class back at Ragnor; man even awarded me a medal said I was the best instructor he ever seen and if I was part of his unit would have given me a bonus. He retired shortly later; but I am sure with recent events lots of people will get called back. Hell they even reactivated Galactica; if they can do that then we will go to great lengths to have the largest military force available since the Cylon Wars."

"You can't have forty years of peace for nothing; something is gonna give eventually it's the law of nature. At first when I read the reports of the Mercury's destruction everyone around me thought it was Cylons until that report finally came out it was alien. I had a hard time believing it at first until well you know these scientists aren't stupid; I have seen some of the alien animals at zoos and exhibits. Its sad though that the first alien race we meet shoots us insteads of shakes our hands or walks through our temples. So where will you go after you get back on your ship?"

"My Commander told me we are heading toward Picon for our assignments and training. Rest of the ships that are unassigned will be assigned to our group and we will be assigned to one of the Fleets. After that we get deployed; most likely coreward where the Mercury was attacked. We know they're out there."

"Ill give you my address so you can write me and let me know; keep in touch."

Scoutstar Phemos- Docked with Colonial Science Vessel Starame

The Colonial Science Vessel; or the CSD which is the Colonial Science Directorate vessel Starame; named after an explorer from Leonis who cataloged the first alien plant life in the Polarn system underneath an ice sheet on that cold frozen world which was also the site of a major Colonial engagement against Cylon Forces in the First Cylon War. It was a remarkable vessel; having been constructed from the inside out from a hollowed out asteroid after a mining company was finished with it. Many times after mining companies got done with operations they would sell their equipment or rocks to science groups or military that will use them to their own ends. The military typically used them either for bombardment, or to build mobile FTL capable Forward Operating Bases. Science groups such as the Colonial Science Directorate would use them as mobile science labs; analyzing samples or any radio signals from distant stars.

The asteroid looked like a typical asteroid; it had a nickel-iron interior which was hollowed out through the intense excavation of valuable ores that were inside. Small domes were on the surface which was darkened intentionally to both block out sunlight and provide some form of stealth in the case of enemy ships nearby. There were places here ships could dock and areas where the asteroid can open up to allow hanger access. These facilities typically housed hundreds of staff and workers; and had its own FTL drives which were the most advanced of its kind to allow for quick escape or jumps if need be. Right now the dark visage of the Phemos hung right outside one of the small docking ports that jutted out from beneath the rocks. The Starame was right outside of the 4th Fleet under the control of Admiral Haines; giving it plenty of additional protection.

"This debris based on radiological data and molecular compounds are an exact match for the alien ships that attack the Mercury. Your initial readings were correct; the Cylons did indeed fight these aliens in this sector of space. I have also looked at the readings on Cylon debris and suffice to say they are very percular." A long grey haired scientist said. He was a smart man; much older than his peers and considered brightest in the field. He was Doctor Allen Wremingway; a materials and radiation engineer. He also had a degree in computer engineering; one of the somewhat common engineers to hold more than one degree. There were many more scientists on the ship which made it a very useful asset.

"How so?"

"Well they have the remains of artifical organic compounds. In other words their ships are constructed out of living material; their computers too or at least partially. I remember before the first Cylon War we experimented in organic component computers just as we created the race which so nearly killed us all off. The processing power was simply enormous! There were so many implications this technology offered; better FTL Drives and sensors until sadly our newly unified government eliminated such technology and outlawed it out of fear and supersistition" the Doctor said wishing to himself that such technology could be exploited again in the near future.

"Some things were just needed Doctor; I am sure minds have changed since then. Maybe; just maybe this technology can be used again; but I am just a tactical officer not a scientist. I understand science well enough as part of my training but I really don't know much other than using it to help understand how we can defense ourselves better!" The ship's tactical officer; Lt. Amy Onsman said. She had enough analytical experience to use science to her advantage to create better ways of defending the Phemos and ensuring its mission of stealth.

"We have in fact come a long way since the Cylon Wars; some of the technology that was banned is now slowly seeping its way through the markets after we learned our mistakes. Even the Phemos is a pinnacle of technological development. But back on to what I was going to inform you; we have discovered that another part of the Cylon's story is in fact true and it creates a very dark situation for all of us."

"Which part was that?" She asked; relieved that the Cylons have been speaking the truth at least most of the time.

"One of the ship's leading biologists discovered a unique strand of bacteria in the organic components; he says they have been eating away at them. We quarantined them but found no evidence they can affect humans. They were purely designed to attack these biological structures within their ships in other words they were specifically engineered to do that job." He stated quite firmly. It was enough to sway her.

"It kills their technology! If such a race can design a bacterium to attack organic technology then they can easily design one to kill off entire species too. This is large; I will inform the rest of the crew and create a plan with you on how we can defend ourselves."

"Correct Leutinenant; this is biological warfare on a scale never seen since the Ebersmere Wars between Leonis and Aerliron. These aliens or Dilgar as they call them are a very serious threat even more so than previously thought. We should also inform the Defense Council."

Aphrodite Orbit

As a part of Colonial space travel regulations there were always vast areas of space that was typically reserved for military vessels jumping in and out of FTL except in case of emergency. Many areas were in fact in orbit around Aphrodite; the dark grey moon that hung in a high orbit above Caprica. These regulations were done so to ensure that no civilian ship got caught within another ships FTL jump thus causing either's destruction. Accidents were very rare but the general fear of such an FTL accident is what caused such regulations to be put into place. Sometimes rumors of horrific accidents and FTL myths. One such myth was of a FTL military ship which made a jump into a civilian shipping lane; jumping inside another ship and molding together with it many portions merged including people with bulkheads and vice versa most of the time the occupants being still alive. Many of these rumors stirred fear especially since according to FTL physics it WAS possible but given the vastness of 3-D space it was considered extremely unlikely for a ship to jump into another ship. It was more likely to happen to a star or planet even a black hole but two ships merging were almost unheard of. There were always very rare cases of ships vanishing after FTL jumps but with most reappearing after a day or so due to glitches in computer systems or the drive itself. Some still never came back and are presumed lost in space and are now the tales and myths of 'ghost ships' and 'disembodied crews'. One story involved the New Horizon; one of the first FTL ships built. It ran a large cargo run between Caprica and Leonis; it activated its FTL engines for the first time…. And was never seen again.

After that many rumors surfaced about the location of the ship; an expedition claimed to have found the ship on a planet a hundred lightyears spinward in neutral space while another claimed to have stumbled upon a lost colony filled with thousands that named itself Horizon and had the remains of the ship with them which the potentially disturbing revelation that the Horizon made a FTL jump backwards through time. However no evidence supported their claims and the area of space they searched was now known to be empty with no habitable worlds. The so called 'Horizon Expedition' turned out to be a fraud wanting to collect money for their own gains and were promptly shut down by the government and families that grieved for the loss of the crew. Over sixty years later no trace of the ship has been found and it was presumed lost in space. The governments claimed that it was most likely taken by pirates or jumped into a star or planet. Piracy was determined to be the most probable cause however. Incidents pretty much vanished over the years as designs were improved and safety measure enacted. Governments ensured that shipping lanes were separated between civilian and military vessels.

Near Aphrodite in the space reserved for military vessels three flashes of light appeared signaling the FTL jump of military vessels. The first FTL jump that came through was that of the Battlestar Atlantia BSG 55. The other two ships were the Halaces and Minwall; two Firestorm Class cruisers which served as its escorts while the rest of its group was on training exercise over at Ragnor. They headed toward the large flat shipyards where the Galactica was also docked.

Meanwhile on the ship; Admiral Agustus Nagala looked down at the DRADIS readouts on the War Table he stood in front of. Althrough the Atlantia was Mercury Class it held more advanced computer equipment than typical ships of its class including 3D Projections where the ships staff can get a Three-Dimensional DRADIS view of the space around it including registered objects such as asteroid, debris, ships and even small objects the size of tools can be registered as well should then need arise to monitor any small objects. He waved his hand over his graying hair; his face told of years of command and hard discipline in himself as well as years of battle. He fought in the First Cylon War and everyone knew that. He commanded the Colonial 6th Fleet after many said we would become a career officer when he chose to stay instead of retiring like most other old officers did; inspiring as a man focused on service he became such a good career officer everyone looked up to him like a legend and his exploits during the First Cylon War still were being told in the halls and classrooms of academies everywhere including going into the hands of soldiers and Marines alike as they went into battle against those who wished the Colonies harm. His brilliant tactics and strategies were still being read to this very day and taught in the War Fleet Colleges throughout the Colonies.

"Commander Doolas; I have a meeting with an old friend of mine; you're in charge n'till I return." He said in his old slightly cracking Leonis accent that even told more of his age and experience.

"Aye sir." He said picking up the inter-ship communications phone. "All hands prepare for docking sequence; we will be docked within thirty." The bright Picon Commander said. He stood well with age too having learned a lot from Nagala and serving with him the longest. He first went into the ship as the Assistant Tactical Officer when he just got out of the Amberten Military College on Picon and placed with Nagala. From learning with him he advanced with rank and quickly caught up on the tactics and strategies that Nagala preached. Doing so made him just as an effective officer and crewmember who ensured his crew was the best trained the best equipped and the most efficient out there. He commanded over 600 ships with Admiral Nagala and he knew he would get even more under them as decisions were made with the Admirality.

"Keep her in good shape like you always done; I will be back soon." Admiral Nagala told him with a stare of confidence.

Battlestar Galactica- Commander's Quarters- a few minutes later

Commander Adama poured himself a glass of ice water before sitting down to read a story called Rabbits in the River; an old Tauron book about a man who hides his family in the wake of a civil war. It had some bearings in truth; during the civil war a family that lived on the border was forced out of their homes by the rebel group known as Halas'fa; who used brutal tactics of rape, pillaging, and terror to bring fear to their victims. The reason for the title was due to the family owning a rabbit farm and having to drown all of their rabbits in a river so the Halas'fa troops wouldn't take them for their own gain. It was a loss as they were all extremely close to the animals which they bred and raised but they settled with it well. He got to the portion of the book where the family was hiding in Hemer Forest while the towns burned under the Halas'fa and the mother who was named Tamara was hunting for mushrooms when she was spotted by a Halas'fa soldier and hid while he tried to chase her down.

His reading got interrupted by the handle to the door turning and the hatch being opened. He walked up to it a bit to see who it was and stared in a bit of shock in seeing a man in an Admiral's uniform with pins and medals for various acts of bravery and commendation. Commander Adama quickly stood at attention and gave a sharp salute.

"Admiral Nagala it has been a while I didn't think you would get here this quickly." Adama said putting down the drink of water. "Do you want something to drink?" He asked.

"Adama you still proud of this old bird; you still have yours? I heard they drew the ship out of retirement. You know I am never hindered by the snails pace of paperwork so getting somewhere isn't a problem for me." He chuckled. Admiral Haines with his position had a lot of leeway when it came to getting deployments. "Go ahead and give me a glass of Tini." Admiral Nagala said enjoying a taste of the alcoholic beverage.

"Sitting right on the starboard flight deck where she's always been; still in good shape and flys like a hawk and the Galactica will never retire Admiral. Fifty years strong she still lives just like you and me. She still has the fight left in her." Adama stated empherically; putting the full trust and faith in the Galactica after so many long years of service to her.

"I never thought she was ever going to fail us. When I commanded her it felt like I commanded a momument to Colonial ingenuity and bravery. I still have that stripe you made on the port flight deck on your thousandth on Atlantia." Nagala stated with pride; as he was once Adama's Commanding Officer he still had close ties with him.

"I am glad you still kept that. Surprised Admiral Portman didn't raise a fuss over it too bad he's retired now." Adama said.

"Never does; glad to see you back. Let's have a seat it's been a while."

Admiral Nagala moved to Adama's desk and looked at the book and picked it up glancing at it closely. "Rabbits in the River; it's a great story; a classic. The classics never get old and I see you still have quite a collection of them. You should probably be getting the papers soon; I had to pull a few strings with Corman and Adar but I managed to get your group assigned with me. I had a chance to review your crew readiness and I am quite impressed with them; even giving them leave after a job well done looks like Galactica is ready to head out in its original glory. I chose you because I know you would be one of the best to add to my fleet. Welcome back Bill." Admiral Nagala said firmly shaking Adama's hand.

"I figured so too; my chief engineer has worked his ass off making sure we passed inspections. Your stuff has helped my crew a lot; I never figured we would be ready for war unless it was against the Cylons or some rouge faction getting a few scraps out of the junkyard to make a show for themselves."

"I told you Tyrol would be a good fit; Galactica needed a good engineer; glad to see him adjusting well to the crew."

"The main inspector is a Master Chief at the station; told me that if he knew Tyrol was that good then he wouldn't need so many engineers just for inspection he would just need him and the job would be done in a day. He fixed up my bird to top notch shape; man has a career ahead of him." Adama said in confidence of his engineer.

"He is smart too; installed some of the new systems for the Mercury's and Mark Sevens even designed the new engines. Hell his designs for the Vulture Bomber's engines got approved. Im glad to see him work good for you like he did me I am sure he is keeping his guys up to speed; it won't be long before you guys think about giving him that MC promotion." Nagala stated firmly; wishing he could go ahead and promote the man right away.

"He doesn't want it; he was nearing the end of his contract for us but looks like he will be in longer with whats going on around us. He will be useful when shit really hits the fan. So which direction are we heading this time?" Adama asked.

"Coreward and we are getting extra groups added to the Fleet. We wil be bolstering an extra hundred or two by months end. These talks of aliens are starting to become more commonplace than the latest science fiction movie reel. We need to be careful Bill; these are not the guys using Cylon tactics of old they will use tactics and strategies unknown to us and their weapons are barely even known but we can stand up to them for a bit before it becomes too much. I have the rest of my fleet training over at Ragnor following up on possible defensive and offensive tactics based on what we already know. It isn't much but its something. We also have CSD and Intell with us" Nagala stated heavily; having been briefed on the full seriousness of the situation. He would learn more and share it more information he received.

"Fleet Intelligence; I figured they would get involved but not with the CSD?" Adama asked surprised the Colonial Science Directorate would get involved this much with Fleet OPS.

"They have a few facilities they want to deploy coreward; listen in to enemy comms if there are any. They will be used as scouting forces relaying ships parsecs ahead and parsecs back including the ID folks working in the civilian sector. Largest conglormation of effort I seen put together since the first war. Still have that sword?"

"Sitting right there above my desk I still remember what I did to this very day. Amazing how time never leaves us there it feels like yesterday when I shot that Centurion's arm off when the Barimus got boarded." Adama remembered the time it happened while refueling on that ship during a mission; a Cylon surprise FTL jump boarded the ship but the Marines held them off while Adama joined them; he ended up getting close range to one and shooting off its arm taking some pieces which left minor scars but he still brought the centurion down anyway.

"Ill always remembers mine. Did your boy pass flight school?" Nagala asked; knowing some of the Adama sons.

"No; Thrace flunked him he failed his final test; last I heard he is about to graduate Intellignece Academy on Gemenon. I figured flying wasn't his thing; always frakked up even the simplest maneuvers he was never built to fly anything short of a damn kite." Adama laughed.

"Intelligence! My gods we probably may see him out there with us; those guys are rough. Glad to see he is still in the fight somehow."

"Zak could find a needle in the middle of Asrapha blindfolded; he always snuck around to grab food or some woman back in the days and come back without me catching him he was one sneaky little rat; but I know he will serve them good."

"None of my kids wanted the military life. One became a doctor and another is a lawyer for high profile criminal prosecution. My daughter graduated from Ipsicwich University over on Virgon with her Docs in medicine recently; now she is working for Colonial Medical Division studying germs. She was a smart woman and still would be."

"Still with the old lady?"

"Of course; she still works as a secretary with the Financial Services Post on Picon her job is gonna get a whole lot busier now. How is Caroline doing; is she still on Caprica?"

"Been there most of her life; she isn't too happy with the deployments though she never was happy when I went back to my old glory days and got the Galactica back. She still takes care of the house well; the boys saw her a day ago before they went to their duties.

"Now weren't Zak and Kara supposed to get married? That was the big talk around here for a while?"

"That is put on hold for now; Starbuck has really been pushing training for the pilots with Major Spencer; it's been a while since some of these guys flew but they are catching up and still shooting well on their scores. Their accuracy is climbing through the frakking roof. I wouldn't be surprised to see ratings in the 90s within a few weeks."

"Good still keeping Galactica and her crew like the legends they are. I look forward to this; they going to let you pick the rest of the ships for the Galactica?" Nagala asked; making sure Adama got one of the first picks.

"Would throw a fit with Corman if they didn't." Adama chuckled. "I will do a review of the ships and captains available then I will get with you once selection is complete. Stay a while and grab some coffee or enjoy planetside; some of the crew is on a short leave since we got our crap together quickly. Glad to see you back Admiral; we can only pray this runs smoothly."

Elsewhere on Galactica

Sarah Gardner walked briskly through the metal corridors of the Galactica. It had only been a couple times she was on the ship; the first was when her then boyfriend now fiancée Jack Spencer took her on a tour including through the CIC; as the Galactica was going to be decommissioned it wasn't too much of an issue to bother with. Then she couldn't wait until it was converted to a museum ship and maybe she could get a job as a tour guide or teacher on it and give studies into how the Cylon War shaped Colonial Civilization. Too bad now it was reactivated and was going to be deployed within a few months once it got overhauled. She still had clearance for the ship though; if it was other Battlestars still in service then some issues would be posed with access to secret and classified areas but the Galactica was less strict and Commander Adama approved the tours with very few issues. Sometimes he took her on tours of areas and even met Commander Adama and Colonel Tigh. It had only been a couple months since they saw each other last; their jobs usually made it difficult to meet but these were her few days off until she was to report to the Colonial Surveyors Hub for a special assignment. They never told her really what it was; just that it was going to be an assignment and it involved the typical alphabet agencies the Colonies had including the CID.

She didn't get much of a message from Jack other than to come to the Galactica and head to the Starboard Flight Deck; she figured they would meet there and have dinner or something. The large hatch to the mid-entrance of the Flight Deck was ahead and she went to open it. She opened the hatch

…."Surprise!" Dozens of voices suddenly yelled. She was taken aback at it at first but quickly gained composure and smiled. Off to her right she could see her parents standing near a maintanence console; they were genuinely older looking now; she never go to see them much due to work and her sister usually stayed with them but always made time to see them whenever possible. "Congratulations darling we knew the day would come; you made a good choice." Her mother Mariana told her. She was almost seventy years old but still moving like she was as a teenager. She really supported her and Major Spencer's relationship; even helping with vacation trips when possible. "I thought it was a bit rushed together when Jack gave us a call but I understood when he gave the message. Feels good now doesn't it?" Her father Olon told her; she remembered when they first met. He was a former Marine that was born on a large space station orbiting Ragnor back when it had the old space habitats that Picon used. Ragnor then was occupied by Caprica, Tauron, and Picon as a military training and mining area. Picon used a semi-habitable world for colonization and experiments in terraforming which had some progress. He was born on such a colony but was still of Picon descent. He and Jackson got along perfectly.

The crowd was fairly large. There were pilots, engineers, and other crew of Galactica including friends and family of her and Jack. It explained why many of the crew were absent in the corridors during what was said to be a major overhaul. She saw other deckhands, Marines, and some civilians that were present on Galactica to do repairs. "You're in for a hell of a celebration today!" One of the pilots said putting beads around her neck. Confetti fell from near the top over her as her father; dressed in his traditional suit and tie escorted her to a makeshift podium where an elderly man dressed in priest's robes stood. His robes were the typical grey bit with red scarves hanging down with rosary hanging from his neck signifying his status in the Colonial Priesthood. He glanced over at her and smiled; as Jack was at his side wearing his Colonial Officer's Class A uniform complete with gold plated pins and medals. Everyone still shouted in cheers and open wine bottles as she walked forward and stood next to him. The feeling was exilerhiting; she remember attending her sister wedding along with her cousins but didn't think marriage would come quickly engaged or not and was still in a bit of shock. She remained a bit nervuous as there was really no planning to this; she was dressed in jeans and a squadron jacket. It did make her relax for the fact that most of the attendees were not wearing anything formal; it was just thrown quickly together in a flash. She stood next to him; as he stood tall sharply and stared readily into her eyes which started to water a bit.

"Told ya you wanted a surprise." He said to her. It was what she wanted. She quickly grabbed his hand and squeezed tightly; and looked at the Priest who begun the ceremony. Thr crowd remained in silence as the Priest gave the traditional Union through Hera speech which rang well through the halls. It was an ancient Colonial tradition passed down from the days the Colonies lived and died by the Sacred Scrolls in strict adherence now having been moved toward a society of scientific and social progress the religious aspects have been slowly dwindling down.

"And Hera hath said 'may a love that begun like a fire burn so everlasting and that the hands of the partners be fastened together and they shall remain together till the soul departs the body and ascends into the heavens'." He quoted from the scrolls of Pythia; the Book of Hera while tying a piece of white cloth around both their fingers which connected around thr wedding band as well. "May their bonds last forever!" He yelled and everyone erupted in cheers as they shared a deep kiss.

The priest walked to the back and cleared the way to a Raptor with the words 'Just Married' painted on it. Other slogans wishing congratulations and babies were also painted by jealous pilots jokingly. The side of it opened and they both walked in while other celebrated nearby. The attendees that celebrated the great occasion went off into a separate room where the party would be held while they waited on the newly married couple to return. When the hanger was cleared; couple of doors opened to space as Major Spencer strapped himself in and started up the Raptor. Sarah did the same in the co-pilots seat.

The Raptor lifted up off the ground and made its way out of the hanger and into the depths of space in orbit around Aphrodite. Several lights were seen on the moon's surface as the domed colonies and stations light up the dark around it. It looked very beautiful to them and she kept her eyes glued to it. She only heard the pings of the DRADIS console in front of her and the hum of the engines that propelled them through space. "It's a go." Her now husband said over the wireless. All of a sudden a large squadron of Vipers made their run past the Raptor on both sides in a V formation and as they flew in front of the Raptor they split off some moving up and others moving down shooting off many bright red and orange objects which she recognized as flares; speeding by quickly in the dark streaks of space. Hundreds of them kept shooting off of them as they flew around the Raptor leaving them hanging in the zero-g environment of space. It was a scene she would remember forever; and hoped it would last that way.

Colonial Intelligence Division Headquarters- Mycona, Gemenon

The current Colonial Intelligence Division HQ used to be known as the Gemonese SpectraForce Center, the past name of the Gemonese intelligence sector. Mycona is a relatively small village with very little to offer in inhabitants; while the facility itself is located inside of a mountain complex with a tunnel which can extend miles underground. As the Gemini System had little involvement in the war; it made it very easy for them to conduct their own operations against the Cylons in the First War. With most of the fighting going on elsewhere, the Gemonese Stellar Navy could focus its forces and efforts on fighting the Cylons as many of their ships were never included with Cylon components or Centurions. Only a small number in their fleet were as then Presbyt of Gemenon Zariaf Comensi never wanted AIs to be integrated; never telling the truth of why he wanted it so. However some military contractors managed to sneak some deals and get the Cylon software and hardware installed on relatevly few vessels.

The Gemenose Fanatical Navy played an important role in the war, as their system and a lone colony of Amphios had a score of facilities for mining, shipbuilding, resource gathering and experimental stations all designed for the betterment of Gemonese life. As the government and religion were closely intertwined on Gemenon, each man and woman of military age would be called to serve whenever possible given their religious upbringings and dedication to service to fight for what is morally right. Admiral Varsa Terimi of the Fire Legion Fanatical Fleet led the charge against what Cylons were in the system which only consisted of a couple shipyards and mining stations, right when the war started he led his fleet into the fray surprising the Cylons there and denying them any possible footholds in the system. This allowed most of the Gemeni System to remain intact for the duration of the war. He worked closely with other Admirals and the SpectraForce to gain valuable intelligence on the Cylons. They developed a good number of means including using Cylon equipment to track codes and decrypt data which indicated attack plans including system locations. The SpectraForce specialists led the Fanatical Navy to many locations of Cylon holding and it was even known their intelligence led to Operation Raptor Talon which was a location of an unknown Cylon project which even then was still kept under wraps and the general community having no knowledge of what went on there.

Right now a few miles underground there was a tunnel going from one of the sites to another. On Gemenon there were many CID sites constructed before the First Cylon War which were interconnected by extensive tunnel complexes hundreds of miles long; a pinnacle of a technology that was borrowed from Caprica during the Early Spaceflight era when sublight ships made trips from one Colony to another lasting a few decades. This continued up until FTL was created a century ago; allowing all of the Colonies to remain in close contact with each other and allowing diplomacy; or war to happen accordingly. The trains that would go from one site to another were powered by a specialized type of battery which could power the trains for several years and many sites had backup trains or cars, and batteries which they used in case of attack; backup trains or other cars also existed at reserve sites. One one such train was being used that transported a few agents including a military analyst also had Special Agent Travis Lonham and Joshua Rinser, the guy he picked up at Grassy Knolls.

"I wonder how much it cost to construct all of these my Gods how many of them are there?" Joshua asked amazed by the complexity of some of the most extreme engineering projects out there.

"A lot more than you can think of; we're almost here the Director is expecting us there is a lot that needs to be discussed." The Agent told him.

They stepped off of the grey-whitemag- train. It sported no symbols or other colors unlike the other mag-trains on the Colonies which usually had advertisements or sports information planted on the side. The controls were mostly computer but could easily have a manual override during emergency situations. Fortunately none of those came to be. They both stepped off onto a gravel walkway toward a set of stairs; Agent Lonham put back on his sports jacket and made his way up the steps which looked like they were carved out of the stone below and plated with metal and a fabric to prevent falls in case these steps would get wet if water supply lines broke. They contuned up the steps and reached a metal door which Travis Lonham placed a key swipe card inside to unlock. The door opened from the bottom up and they went inside to find a hallway which looked like any typical office building hallway which seemed strange for a mountain complex. He probably figured that it was decorated to provide a sense of pleasure and some relaxation given the very difficult job CID has with the Colonies. They continued down the hallway passing others doing their own job functions; many doors were wooden but had names plated on them, usually offices of people or conference rooms. Travis didn't need to ask or look into any of their thoughts to figure out they had to be way underground. Eventually they came to a set of double wooden doors which had the label of Intelligence Conference Room. Travis opened both doors which revealed a fairly spacious room complete with a furbished wooden table that had a variety of computer devices embededed within and a projector screen on the far end. Sitting on one side facing a wooden wall with pictures hanging of forests and woodlands were two people, one was an older looking woman with salt and pepper hair who still looked like she maintained her shape well over the years, only slightly taller than Joshua. The other woman was younger and a little shorter with blond hair reaching her shoulders; she looked to be a bit heavier than Joshua while wearing horn-rimmed glasses. She was dressed a bit differently for the job; wearing a black sweater and jeans. He took a special kind of liking toward her for some reason.

"Well Agent Lonham I hope this is a good catch for you; she said her voice still strong without a single crack in it; for a slightly older woman she carried herself very well."

"I told you he would be good; he is fairly legit." He said noticing Joshua was a bit nervous. He assumed Joshua knew he was in the room with many important people that would make anyone nervous. He did notice Josh darting his eyes toward the blond woman. "This is Joshua Rinser; go on and show them your stuff." He told Joshua.

"Hey as you all know I am Joshua Rinser." He said a little soft at first to avoid screwing up a first impression with a woman he knew was the CID Director; and a very attractive female who sat next to her. "You must be the CID Director Lori Hassen." He said to her, not needing to scan her thoughts to determine she was the head of a federal agency. Joshua already saw her face on TV a few times in the past; and most Colonials can become familiar with heads of government even minor ones relatively quickly if they followed news events. "And you are Angela Honneyman; Military Analyst and yes I did scan you to see who you were; as you never wanted to show yourself on TV. You don't have kids and don't want any; you got into the CID through a recruiter who walked around Huis Dinto University over on Caprica." He said to her; staring deeply in her eyes and smiling. She began to batter her eyes a bit with a slight smile on her face; turned out he was right regarding what he knew.

"This is impressive you are right on the dot!" Lori stated firmly. "I will go ahead with a briefing on why you are here; a long time ago before the Cylon War we knew that something was going to happen with the Cylons. When the Gemenese government had Oracles in the mix one of them told the Prebyst not to take in the Cylon technologies. The Oracle explained he he had a vision of bloodshed and that the machines would revolt. Thankfully our Prebyst back then was smart and for the most part allowed all of the military and civilian populace to operate with regular technology instead of the new Cylons that spread around. When the war finally started there was a group in the intelligence sector of SpectraForce who wanted a twist on human intelligence; instead of putting agents in the field they wanted agents who were in sense Oracles. Those rumors and stories you hear about Oracles doing military service are in fact based in truth. We selected five Oracles who were able to detect Cylon fleet locations, hidden outposts; you name it they found it. We still have files on them which we can let you read up on. It was people like you that helped us gain a winning edge in the war. If the Cylons hadn't signed the Armistice then we probably would have beat them even though heavy losses." She told him.

"So I guess I will be working directly for you guys right?" Joshua asked a bit surprised by the explanation. Even though the Armistice was two years shy of its 40th Anniversery he always felt the Cylons would come back in some shape or form.

"An intelligence analyst type position yes. We will provide housing, benefits, food and training. You will be here at the headquarters for a while before we send you out anywhere. Once we feel you are trained properly then you will be assigned to a field training unit and most likely be placed with Agent Lonham; he is our Field Training Agent."

"I guess my selection has something to do with the recent events right?"

The Director glanced over at Angela for a bit giving her the cue to speak. "Contrary to what most people have known over the past thirty years we have had some idea of what the Cylons were doing across the Line. We have been monitoring various types of transmissions across the Line and noticed an uptick; a steady one over the past thirty-four years. Everything changed then and it was still a surprise for us."

"What happened to the transmissions?"

"They abruptly dropped; but not before becoming very chaotic and strange. We managed to intercept and translate some transmissions but they were just relay points nothing special we could use. Sometimes we would send in a rock or a hunk of metal across the Line to see if they spotted anything; most of the time they would send in a couple ships to look at it then dismiss it as nothing and move on and while we were regular they weren't. Last year we sent out a Raptor on autopilot across the Line….

"…..And they never intercepted it." Joshua said finishing Angela's sentence.

"Just a year after that our sensor bouys started recording strange and unusual radiation signatures coming from several systems across the Armistice Line. Many of these were consistant with nuclear detonations while others we couldn't figure out. It was concluded the Cylons were fighting someone or something out there and they were losing badly. We tried to get expeditions funded we could get sent across but our previous Director and the President at the time refused it. It was not until we got new rules and regulations a lot lighter which allowed us to expand across the Line. Once the incident with the Mercury happened we had our answer. We have a contact with a Special Forces operations vessel that has operated across the Line. We found Cylon survivors who confirmed the same aliens that destroyed the Mercury also waged war against them; they gave us data on them which I analyzed and will brief the President and Military Chiefs of Staff next week. If what I have seen is true then I am absolutely certain a war will come to our borders."

Woodland outside of Timis, Tauron

"So there was a dead Fleet Petty Officer here?"

"Yes sir right this way; there was a hiker that found him a day ago. When we learned he was a Petty Officer we figured it would be your juridstiction and we called you."

Agent Tibbs already had a long day; short from the prisoner in the underground portion of the headquarters; the investigation into the arms deal was already starting to make a turn for the strange with the revelation that Thomas Nizzo's survaliance equipment was not functioning however to him it seemed to prove that this particular arms dealing ring utilized more Cylon technology than usual. Agent Geeman was already working on a way to create surveliance equipment that was protected from interference from Cylon technologies.

"Hey Geeman go ahead and get a good ID on this guy."

"On it boss." He said while pulling out the PortScanner which was designed to scan fingerprints and DNA to get a match on those currently registered in databases. The storage capacity of the devices was greater then over the past few years due to advancements in storage; derived from the advanced Cylon technologies that were remodeled to be safe. The screen was blinking white to show the user it was searching the database of current enlisted personell to determine who the body was. Finally the machine let out a beep and flashed an image of a Petty Officer in Fleet Class A uniforms.

"Boss the fingerprints are a match for a Petty Officer Second Class Magond Howard; I guess that was one of the guys our tipster said was involved in selling weapons from military shipments coming in and out of Brando Alpha Airbase." Agent Geeman said flatly. Only a few hours ago there was a tip placed by another member stationed at that particular Airbase which stated that he tried to recruit another lower ranking enlisted to get extra money selling weapons coming in on crates that transport shuttles would bring in on occasion. Others were known to be crates which had the illegal Cylon weapons and technology.

"Where in the frak is the corornor?" Agent Tibbs yelled. Screaming down the road was a large armored truck which had the FCIS Corornor labels on the side. Fairly soon the vehicle came to a stop and out of the driver side stepped a tall lanky man barely thirty years old who looked like he never picked up a weight in his life. He was known as Corornor Agent Vincent Jalmer; filling in for the normal Senior Corornor Ronald 'pucky' Mallory as he was on a teaching assignment at another FCIS station.

He walked up to the body wearing gloves and the typical FCIS Agent's jacket. He bent over the body carfully to look at it for signs of trauma or causes of death when he noticed a bump on the side of the neck which he pushed and noticed it was most definitely bone. "Well looks like our guy here had his neck snapped fairly hard seemed like whoever did it snapped it clean in half so he had to be strong. Help me get this guy up so I can take him back to the A-Room." He said clearly wanting to get the body out of the general area soon as possible.

"Agent Vidda; you and Geeman head to the guys address and try to find out what went wrong. I will head over to the station and talk to our suspect who really wanted protection."

Agent Vidda heard the call while sitting near the agency all black vehicles; Agent Geeman ran in with her and drove off over to the Petty Officer's home which was at Housing District B at Brando Alpha. It was a large Airbase; comprising of Marine and Fleet housing units, training areas, and everything else as it was joint forces. There were also many Aerospace Forces, Planetary Army, and Civil Defence stationed there as well. The base was only ten miles away from where the FCIS Headquarters was positioned at in Hypathia.

"I wonder why our suspect wants protection all of a sudden; do we know of any enemies of these arms dealers?"

"Well Matthew these arms dealers have competition as well. Some terrorist and rebel factions have their own individuals they prize in taking and selling arms. I say he really must have pissed someone off to get them to come after him."

"These guys seem to be the all-around type; willing to sell to anyone in order to make an extra buck regardless of their affialiations."

"Well if they are an enemy who wants competition removed then the independent arms dealers will be targets as well. I wonder who would want a Fleet Petty Officer dead anyway?"

"A lot of people I bet. I wouldn't be too surprised if he is linked with our suspect. These guys are fairly widespread but it looks like we got the biggest players in the ring; I think the Petty Officer is involved."

"Well whatever is in his house hopefully we can find anything we need to link him with our suspects and maybe other dealers in the operation. Hopefully this will shut them down."

They approached Petty Officer Howard's home. It was like most typical enlisted housing districts buildings; four room structures which included garaging and rooms which could be converted easily into bedrooms, offices, or living rooms. Normally first year enlistees would be sent to a barracks which was built up like an apartment complex completely different than the barracks used for trainees or other Defense Forces members who were on tempory or extended combat training. After a year of serving enlistees would be moved to Force Housing Authority where they can get housing near many of the military bases should they elect so. Others usually end up getting off base housing off of their own expense. The front door was closed but the outer glass door was open. It raised a red flag with both agents and they rushed out with their service weapons; H-29 high powered semi-auto handguns. They moved in silent unison to the front door and knocked. "FCIS anyone inside better put your frakking hands up or we will shoot first and ask questions later!" Agent Vidda shouted; sure her voice could be heard two houses down. She looked over at Agent Geeman giving him the nod to give the cue she was opening the door. It was unlocked so she opened it slowly, allowing the two agents to creep in. The interior of the house in the living room was in disarray. It was clear there was some struggle that took place; they proceded carefully inspecting and clearing each room to ensure no other suspects were still inside and to not disturb any evidence.

"Geeman I found blood!" Agent Vidda yelled over to him. He moved to her location in the kitched and found multiple blood droppings on the kitchen tiled floor. He got an evidence kit and scrapped up the blood samples.

"I will send all of these to Amy for analysis; hopefully we can find if it is the Petty Officer Howard's blood or someone elses.

Interview Room 4-D A few hours later…

This particular interview room was located in the underground portion of FCIS headquarters of the Old Fleet Yard on Hypathia. This section was designed for high profile suspects and persons of interest who would have a lot against them including the possibility of assassination so therefore they would be brought for special protective custody. Each room was monitored with radiation sensors, IFR, and gravity sensors designed to pick up any change in weight of the room to ensure suspects never took anything in or hid anything. The interview rooms also acted as specialized cells each with bedding, a toilet room and shower in a back portion which was also monitored each hour of each day to ensure no one tampered with anything or cause harm to suspects and other persons. In this area there were dozens of armed guards and security present to provide protection to agents, investigators, lawyers, and suspects or persons of interest.

Supervisory Agent Jethroy Tibbs sat down at the table to interview the arms dealer known as Ramsef Ulluk; the Canceron native who tried to sell two terrorists weapons at the warhouse a few days prior. It had been a relatively long day for Tibbs; his team came back from the Petty Officer's house with blood samples and photos which indicated a heavy struggle. Right now Forensics Specialist and Analyst Amy Sutton was examining all evidence and anything with a blood pattern on it.

"Well you're here and you got the protection." Tibbs said with a slight sigh. "Now we just need to know what you know; so what was going on with the other dealers, how big is this ring?"

"It goes with a portion of Colonial Movers; Randy would know more about it but he has been acting strange lately."

"What do you mean by strange?"

"Well there was a recent string of deaths with a few suppliers…" Ramsef paused. Agent Tibbs knew at this point he had to be connected with Petty Officer Howard in some fashion and possibly his death. "Normally we figure out which group did it; there is always a competition." Ramsef stated with a thick accent. "But these were strange and Randy told everyone to shut up about it."

"Do you know who this is?" Agent Tibbs asked handing Ramsef a photo of the dead Petty Officer.

"He was a contact who helped get military grade weapons; he went to Randy and said he was visited by someone asking for information on other types of weapons we don't deal with or bother to touch. He offered several thousand cubits for information on storage facilities for bioweapons."

"Bioweapons?" Tibbs questioned. He really hoped now they didn't have a bioterrorist group on their hands. It would be the absolute last thing they needed. Colonial bioweapons divisions were under strict controls and guard.

"Yeah bioweapons; I asked Randy about it and he just simply said to shut up and don't worry about it. There seemed to be some genuine fear around the guy; each dealer everywhere else was dead and some say he was there with them. I know he will meet with some of the guys from the Lightning including Zarek."

"What all do you know about Zarek?"

"I know that Zarek asked a few other suppliers about bioweapons including your dead Petty Officer."

"Thank you that is all I need." Tibbs finally


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

_Three Months Ago- On the Free Lightning_

"You must be the new guy they've been talkin about." The large husky man said in a distinctive southern Aerilon accent. "We have been needing a new cargoman for quite a few weeks since the old once just went and frakking quit on us...bastard... Least you didn't come from the godsdamn temp service they use otherwise they would not have given you the nametag on your workshirt" He pointed at his tag which read "Nathan" in bold red print.

"I never heard anything good about the temp service that's used around here that's for sure. I come here to work not goof off like its some kind of Scorpia Cart Derby." He said adamantly.

"Well then you came to the right place; I'll show you to your quarters then we can get you on to training. Our ship does things quite differently than others; I believe in working smarter not harder you get more crap done that way."

"Absolutely agreed sir; just like the movie Two Bosses starring Andrew Landing where the boss says "Working harder sure aint smarter since it just gets you knocked on your head more. Working smarter at least gets you somewhere and makes me happy and my pants rise!" That was the best damn line in the whole movie."

Harold laughed hysterically "That was one of the best films I ever seen come out of Picon. You got yourself a good spot here; this work is the easiest and best you will encounter in all of Colonial Movers. I promise you'll love it here."

"Love it already sir; looks like you have a good crew." Nathan saw someone walking across a corridor; he looked dead into the eyes of someone he recognized as Tom Zarek the person he was going to be watching undercover. It didn't take much for this assignment to go through as Matthew Geeman created his name on the computer system with an ID to match. It was the perfect cover identity; one having to take a good computer hacker to find out.

"Well these are your quarters; most of everything here is automated so we only need a crew of fifteen. We leave the station at zero-eight tomorrow and shift starts same time. Remember you're getting paid by the hour; make it worth it."

Nathan made the next few weeks uneventful; learning and melding in with the crew was the best thing he could do now as an undercover asset. He made friends with many of them including the Captain hearing him talk about his wife, kids, and mostly in particular her financial problems. He felt it that it would be a motivation for someone to engage in black market activities. Zarek however seemed distant from everyone just doing the work to get by and participating on runs never asking any question and always dodging ones asked to him. His only friend seemed to be that of Hillis Tilmer but Hillis stayed away from other members of the crew only interacting when job function had to be performed. To Nathan it presented an excellent opportunity to observe the two more to see what would happen.

On the job he learned the entire computer systems needed to log incoming and outgoing freight and to provide small maintenance function to the cargo hold. He also noticed the Cargo Hold was the place for some crew to discuss things in private and Nathan already had equipment ready from his main life as a CFIS Agent. Agent Geeman helped create most of it; miniature devices which would receive video and sound at high quality. He placed a few in the cargo hold near pallets which would cover up the transmitters. During non-working hours he would listen to a few minutes which didn't really garner much; just family including typical management drama. One talked about a possible sale of illegal majalin a potent plant that grew on Canceron which had narcotic effects more potent than chamala. The undercover assignment would last several months until evidence was brought against Tom for plotting a massive terror campaign against the Colonies; the entire assignment was to implicate the crew in the selling of weapons and materials to terrorist organizations including the Sons of Erebus, Children of the One which was a group descended from the Soldiers of the One monotheist extremist movement that plagued the Colonies before the Cylon War. Finding evidence against Zarek was a priority but as long as he nailed the crew SecFleet would be satisfied. He wanted these illegal arms deals to end once and for all.

After at least three months of waiting and not getting much; the Captain had the ship jump toward a distant location which ended up being an old battle site at the edge of a system. Captain Kloder had Nathan help load up cargo canisters and units with scores of Cylon technology; the type of technology that was from the Cylon War. Most of the units consisted of battery packs, holobands which were illegal in some circumstances but otherwise rarely distributed. The vast majority was high calibered weapons including nearly complete ammo boxes which were contained inside of Cylon bodies. Explosive ordinance was being taken out and taken apart so that components can be shipped separately from one another. Nathan didn't need to go on the derelict basestar on the outskirts of the system to know that this equipment was to be sold to multiple organizations. Harold and the crew had to be getting one frak of a payout for this type of equipment! Captain Kloder ordered Nathan to hide the Cargo Containers in a blue sheet indicating they were old and to be disposed shortly. He put in the cargo manifest that those covered were simply trash containers to be disposed of accordingly should any questions be asked but Harold had his way of ensuring no questions of any kind would be asked. It was simply how things were run.

Soon after the operation; when crews got to talk to their families or friends was when rumors starting spreading around of a Cylon attack "Hey man have you heard this shit; there was a Battlestar attacked last night! And we know the only ones with the balls to attack such a ship. But here is the weird part man; why didn't they send in a massive force. If they wanted to return all they needed to do was jump their fleets above Caprica or Picon and start nuking them." Harold had told him after he was talking with an old Fleet buddy. The crew as usual heard the rumors before the main news reports would come out and had suggested the Cylons after nearly forty years were going to come back and tear down humanities reign on this side of the Armistice Line. They all looked wide eyed toward the television when someone yelled to turn it up. The news anchor was giving a special broadcasting with a large digital print on the bottom of the screen which read "Mercury Attacked by Unknown Forces"

…"We have received word from Colonial Fleet Command at Picon that the attack against the Mercury was not made and I repeat this NOT made by Cylon forces but by an alien intelligence that still may be operating in the sector. Admiral Stark current Chief of Fleet Operations is seeking fellow members of the Admiralty on how to proceed in this current situation while forces elsewhere are upgrading alert statuses. Scouts are being sent ahead toward other system to search for signs on any additional unusual activity or for alien ships which vanished after the Mercury's CO ordered the detonation of nuclear stores to prevent the ship from being boarded. Debris from the alien fleet has been taken into custody. Message buoys sent into Cylon territory is still being met with silence at this point however the fact remains that the attack was definitely not Cylon it's that of an alien intelligence. No further word or commentary is coming from either President Adar or Colonial Fleet Command…" Nathan looked around and gathered reactions from the crew. The whisperings grew louder steadily until Nathan looked in the direction of Tom Zarek walking away with another crew member he knew as Hillis Tilmer who kept associating himself with Zarek and even went on the Basestar with him. Nathan also remembered to keep an eye on Hillis Tilmer; while he was out doing Incoming Cargo Manifest he decided to place a device in Tom Zarek's quarters fearing detection equipment in Hillis Tillmer's. He watched from a wireless recording device that was standard CFIS issue; and could record good amounts of data based off of Cylon recording technology enhanced by the military after the First Cylon War. He decided to watch one of the recordings that were marked from yesterday right after the team came back from a freight run. He zipped through minutes of video including fast movements of people in and out until he noticed something that caught his eye. He rewinded the video and played it noticing the strangest thing. As Zarek was lying down a figure materialized right beside him; causing the video to blur for a minute. It was unmistakibly real; Nathan's eyes were not playing tricks as he played it over; noticing the same figure materialize in the darkness. It was Hillis Tilmer which answered one of his questions. Now he had a bigger one; why would an alien agent work with a terrorist? He speculated the possibilities which started to make more sense. Nathan hid his equipment; including all recording devices. He couldn't risk being discovered so he decided to write a handwritten note which he could have hand delivered to another agent which could be brought to FCIS in short time. Action needed to happen now otherwise he feared a lot more could happen than a regular terrorist attack with the recent news going on.

He followed both of them while putting his hands on a small listening device with a directional microphone; he used a wireless device as a recorder to listen in on their conversation. They stopped in a cargo hold not knowing someone was just several feet away and began their conversation as Nathan put the listening device on a dark corner so it couldn't be seen. He stood against the wall listening in to what they were saying. Nathan's eyes widened in shock at what they were talking about and when their conversation ended he grabbed the listening device so he could make his way back to his quarters. It was time for everyone else back at CFIS Headquarters to know what he discovered. With all of the evidence including the evidence that Hillis Tilmer may not exactly be human it was a good idea to act quickly; others from his team needed to be on this site quickly if things were to get under control. All he needed to do was to send a message to an agent when he got off the ship that just said simply; "Raid".

Present Time

"Okay folks this is a special operation! We have only minutes until the package lands then we need to move in and arrest everyone; we are expecting resistance and from the briefing the possibility of an alien agent on the ship. This isn't a time to frak around; we want the package alive including Zarek and the agent he is working with. One of our own is onboard so be careful; we don't need to risk friendly fire." Agent Tibbs yelled to the rest of his team which hid behind many vehicles including refueling trucks, cargo handlers and flatbeds. They laid out a plan to take the ship from all sides to minimize the chance for causalities and to expand the chance for a quick takeover.

BOOM! Everyone ducked as they heard the sonic boom of the ship entering the atmosphere; everyone knew it was their cue to get ready. "Alright everyone that's our sign." Tibbs said over the radio. He signaled to Agent Geeman to begin shutdown of the Lightning's engines once the ship landed. The teams used cover of the vehicles to ensure they remained undetected even from the air; but the Free Lightning had no windows to look through or any portholes; just covered in all metal and armor designed to withstand medium meteor impacts and other debris. The main reason for it being that if they exited the craft the raiding team wouldn't be seen until it was too late. The large landing pad started to flash in red and orange; signaling the ship to safely land in the spot. Some of the Special Operations Team looked up to see the irregular shaped spacecraft begin its decent. The large cargo modules could clearly be seen as it steadily made its way down.

"All you need to know is I have a contact here I must meet with; in a week you will have quite a special delivery." Hillis spoke softly to Zarek. "I am sure you can arrange yourself a trip to Saggitaron on your own with the cubits I will bring to you."

"I can; how much are you planning to get?"

"Enough to get you where you need; as for contacting me you don't need to worry about that; if I need you I will find you; it's not hard for me to find someone." Hillis looked around to see a dark haired man in the hallway looking at a computer terminal uploading something in through a memory drive. As a Spectre; he was trained to notice unusual behavior and this struck him as odd. He knew something was up when the man turned to look at him and Zarek "I have to go..." He quietly said to Zarek as he tried to make way toward his quarters. He felt the ship shudder as it landed but made haste to get off quickly as possible. When the ship landed with a loud thud and shudder was when the dark haired man made his move.

With impressive speed the dark haired man moved behind him; putting him in a neck hold but not before the Dilgar Spectre activated his stealth suit; the man deployed a swift kick to the now cloaked Spectre as he released himself from the hold and threw the man back some distance. As he heard the ship being taken over by what he thought was a police or military team; he made his way to his quarters with quickened haste bypassing two people dressed in combat gear deploying a strange chemical which made his lungs and nostrils irritate then burn badly with a smell that could incapacitate a goloth. The other men didn't notice him however he didn't care as he needed to now make his way off the ship. He barged into his quarters; gathering a backpack he covered in the same material as his stealth suit and activated it; hiding his tachyon transceiver within. As he ran out he felt a strange substance on his back; and turned to notice the same dark haired man staring straight at him with a red cylindrical object hitting him square in his jaw; knocking out a couple teeth. On his hands and legs he noticed a white foamy substance and felt it all over and almost slipped on the foam covering the metal. He grabbed his pulse pistol to fire a shot at the human but missed and ended up hitting a metal bulkhead as he lost his balance again on the slippery surface. His second shot slammed into the human leg splitting out some blood and flesh. The now wounded human falling over now wounded leg fired two shots one of which slammed into the upper leg of the Spectre which would narrowly miss a major artery line.

Not noticing he been hit; Dar'fen known to the crew as Hillis Tilmer ran down the corridor toward one of the open hatches where two humans attempted to board the ship. He grabbed one by the helmet; slamming him into a bulkhead and flipping him into the ground while striking the other in the lower jaw knocking him out cold on the concrete pad below. His attempt to run across the pad was stopped by a surprise kick to the head by a human female with long hair; he pointed his pulse pistol at her only to have it knocked as she deployed a precision strike to his wrist causing it to be thrown some distance from him. With surprising speed she kicked it across the pad while in midair sending it even further. Impressed by her moves he landed a strike across her neck and grappled her throwing her to the ground but not before she landed a hard kick the side of his knee; dislocating it and dropping him in a kneeling position. She jumped to her feet attempting to kick him in the jaw but ended up getting her leg caught in his grip as he flipped her over and proceeded to mount her striking her in the head and rendering her unconscious. Knowing his knee was bad he started to limp; some of the foam still coming off of him and hitting the ground. The last thing he saw was a grey haired man swinging a rifle butt at him then everything went black.

_Dreadnought Deathwalker-Hyperspace_

"They vanished? What do you mean they vanished?" Warmaster Jha'dur asked with a cold calmness.

"I had sent out a scout ship to look in a different area of space where a concentration of tachyon particles was noticed. It was the Colony with the Hub right next to it; before I could order my fleet to engage they vanished in a very unusual way. A vortex was seen forming around the ships similar in function to a hyperspace vortex but different. It seemed to 'phase' itself much more than a regular hyperspace vortex.

That certainly piqued her interest more. "Did you send in any probes or ships?"

"I didn't believe sending in a ship would be the brightest idea so I sent in several probes. All probes were destroyed shortly after entering so I knew whoever was there didn't want us and it would be best not to provoke an unknown power. I knew for certain such a technology was beyond the Cylon's understanding so it was not them. My science officer suggested it might have been one of those 'hyperspace tunnels' the Research Arm theorized about."

Jha'dur had heard of hyperspace tunnels; an area of hyperspace which was folded to allow near instantaneous travel from one area to another; her brother Sha'dur was working on a way to alter a jumpgate to 'fold' hyperspace instead of generate a vortex. A few had been detected; remnants of an ancient race she was looking into that had influenced many cultures on the other side of the wormhole. They simply connected with one system to another in most cases; other times it was just two areas of empty space with nothing interesting to look at. Even the systems were devoid of any activity. To her it seemed that they could have been 'natural'. She sighed. "Well I am first of all glad you didn't send in your fleet otherwise we would have a completely different conversation now wouldn't we Warmaster; especially with what happened to your last fleet that attempted to destroy the Dreadnought." She said.

"Yes we would Warmaster." He said to her; his eyes dropping to the floor. He remember taking on the Dreadnought from the Mishakur Deathfellows; a ship he gained control of after former Warmaster Sha'daln had died while in the middle of an engagement with Earth Alliance forces near Mitoc. A missile managed to strike causing him to slam his head into a panel; killing him instantly. He managed to take the ship; gathered the fleet for a head on strike against the Earth Alliance driving their fleet back. Ever since then he gained a battlefield promotion to Warmaster and held on to his fleet; continuously driving back Earth and alien forces wherever needed. It also allowed him to be assigned to the Expanse where he fought Cylon forces. He still remembered the very day he had to travel a system that even the Cylons avoided.

_"With our new techniques under Jha'dur we had a wealth of intelligence information come in. We managed to crack the majority of Colonial and Cylon codes; and though the Colonies are still stuck with electromagnetic transmission and using FTL ships to relay transmissions we still have operations that monitor them and continue to give us important information that helps us prepare for an eventual pacification campaign. We cracked the Cylon tachyon codes and using the system we use to track their transmissions we are able to plot all of their systems and major holdings. However; we had an anomaly." Warmaster Tor'han; the head of the Dilgar Imperial Intelligence Arm stretched his arms outward and made an opening motion with them which the computer used to open up a holographic display of Cylon territory displayed in red. In fine Dilgar print he saw: Armistice Line: going across a red line which divided Cylon from Colonial territory. Cylon holding were marked in red however there was a small orange blot that surrounded three stars which were in the territory. There were white arrows which signified the drive of Dilgar fleets into Cylon territory. _

"_These three systems; are not held by the Cylons nor are they anywhere near the Armistice Line for them to be held by the Colonies. It is a section which the Cylons avoid for some unknown reason. They never venture in and all interrogation of Cylon subjects shows they were ordered or programmed to avoid it. We do know that during the First Cylon War there were several breakaway factions of Cylons themselves which we have yet to encounter but are currently working on it. This is probably one but confines themselves to the systems by choice for reasons unknown. But we do know one thing; they are still a potential threat to us and we need to gather more intelligence on them before we send in any fleet to engage them. We want to play this smart. The Colonies monitor events on the Cylon side and there are some fears they may be aware of something happening but they will never cross over in fears of starting another war at least that's what our analysts say." Tor'han looked at Nar'losth." You will be bringing in several intelligence assets into these three systems; they are a group of Spectres that will operate a Targath Cruiser with stealth capability. We need them to monitor the system and gather information on these Cylon forces and how they are different from the ones we have been fighting. Your fleet should be ready; you embark tomorrow. All reports gathered will go to you me and Warmaster Jha'dur. It is vital we know why the Cylons avoided this system. All we know is that it used to belong to Picon before the Colonies unified. It was used as a research base and that's where the reports end. Find out what happened; and if there is a technology useful to us take it."_

_ Warmaster Tor'han concluded the meeting by handing Nar'losth a data crystal. "The rest of your fleet will be a backup. I trust you to be wise in your decisions. Everything is up to you now." They saluted; with that Tor'han left to attend toward his duties on the other side of the wormhole. _

_ Nar'losth held out the palm of his hand with the data crystal gleaming in the strong lights of the meeting room. He placed it in his pocket and continued to exit the meeting room on the Pila class starbase. He did have a feeling of dread and nervousness wash over him which was unlike him to get a feeling. He dismissed it away quickly as it came. Walking steadily he returned the salutes of many lower ranking officers and enlisted men; many of whom were in dress uniforms with decorations for serving exemplary in combat; veterans of either Cylon or League wars; sometimes even both. They were all good officers and enlisted men; the pride of the Dilgar Imperium. _

_He walked onboard the Deathfellows returning a salute from his captain and executive officer; Captain Sa'tel. "The Targath is ready sir; the Spectres are onboard and awaiting further orders." She said. _

_ "Disengage station and set course; follow the beacon ship; keep a compressed tachyon signal on the Targaths." He looked around the well-organized command and control of his ship as the crew worked calmly with sharp efficiency. The ride through hyperspace wouldn't last very long; over two days went by relatively quickly; all was normal no Cylons ambushing them or anyone else in normal space either. Still it was no time to be complacent; as he prepared for the worst. _

_ "Warmaster; we have arrived. Making jump to normal space now; the Targaths have made their FTL jumps toward the system. Keeping signals locked on tightband and monitoring all sensor information." Sa'tel said looking at all incoming data. _

_He walked over to the Command and Control deck; observing transmissions that came from the Targath cruiser. The stuff pouring in was interesting; a combination of electromagnetic and tachyon transmissions coming from the planet and going to several locations in the system on a narrowband form that made sure it would degrade once it reached the heliopause. They were low in strength but strong enough to make it elsewhere in system. "Who would live in this system?" He asked himself._

_He got the answer soon as he asked._

_ "Warmaster! Signals have cut off with the Targath!" Sa'tel said extremely shocked as if a star just suddenly exploded. _

_ "What! Get them back on!" He yelled with fury. _

_ "Incoming FTL jump dead ahead; receiving emergency transmission!" _

_ "….. (Garbled) Oh Gods it's huge (garbled) send assistance... (Garbled) they are behind us!"_

_ "Warmaster another FTL jump detected... oh dear gods what the hell is that thing?" Captain Sa'tel had her jaw dropped at the sight of a massive object lurching toward them. It could easily fit five Dreadnoughts within its hull and have room for maybe more. The sensor profile reminded him of an oversized Vree saucer but this was no Vree ship. Captain Sa'tel jumped on a communications channel with the rest of the fleet. "All ships open fire; give them everything you got. Prepare for hyperspace jump!" Warmaster Nar'losth shouted_

_ "Warmaster with respect we have Spectres on that ship; we cannot allow a valuable asset to fall within enemy hands!"_

_ "That ship is capable of taking on our entire fleet and maybe more; we can't risk a rescue already its giving us a slaughter!"_

_ "Are you also willing to risk the fact that maybe these Cylons may trade the Spectres into the others? That ship has technology that will give the enemy an edge. We cannot allow that to compromise us! With respect Warmaster I strongly suggest you look at your choices carefully." Sa'tel said calmly never afraid of consequences for questioning her superior. _

_Warmaster Nar'losth considered the consequences including what Jha'dur thought of him. He had already impressed her enough to take assignments she deemed not worthy for others and if he failed he may not get another posting like this or even may be executed. "Send a rescue ship; all other ships defend the Targath. When rescue is complete have the Targath destroyed completely!"_

_Scores of Thoruns were launched from the fleet; attacking the large Dreadnought making attempts to pick off weapons while Dilgar cruisers scored massive hits with energy weapons; some to little effect against its thick advanced armor. Lasers and railguns were cutting through the Dilgar fleet like buttes; halves and quarters of ships drifted through the emptiness of space. A large black Dilgar shuttle made its way through the fire to land in the hanger bay while all of the Spectres crammed in with stunning speed. A tactical nuclear missile launched from the Deathfellows toward the Targath; streaking past the shuttle. A blinding flash of light enveloped the Targath and the ship was no more than a few pieces of metal drifting in space. The large saucer shaped ship was starting to glow in some sections from intensive fire and missile strikes; scored by the advanced Dilgar weapons. Suddenly without warning it disappeared in a flash of light as it made an FTL jump. _

"Is there something wrong?" Jha'dur asked calmly.

"No Warmaster." He took a deep breath. "Everything is fine." He wanted to destroy that ship in the system. Ever since then Jha'dur had ordered all Dilgar ships to avoid the system in fears of provoking that ship. There were plans to destroy the whole system but it would have to wait.

"Well then you can return to your ship. You performed well; I want you to remain in the general area to watch for any additional Cylons. We know they're out there." She said as he saluted sharply and quickly left.

She figured it had to be Drakh; the majority of Warmaster on the Council knew of their existence and former influence on others who had now been executed. She recalled to the time she first encountered them on Omelos as her brother was wounded in action by the Earth Alliance. It did not please her well to learn that they were partially responsible for Len'char behavior as a means to eventually manipulate and use her to their whim. Jha'dur examined their behavior well enough to know they would chose the Cylons soon enough rather than the Colonials who were somewhat itching for a war. She had her brother working on a project to utilize a special sensor system to find Drakh ships in and around Dilgar territory and beyond; but figured it wouldn't be a long time before they reared their ugly heads in this sector too.

Jha'dur sat in her furbished bed and started to think of those dreams that have plagued her only weeks after she arrived in the Expanse. "Ghosts..." She whispered to herself lightly. She quickly stood up and walked rapidly toward the Command and Control of the Deathwalker. She paid absolutely no attention to those that parted as she walked onto the bridge station. "Captain An'jash, pull me a representation of this sector."

"Yes Warmaster..." Confused; she complied quickly with her orders trusting that she had something that might have appeared to hear. An'jash tapped several buttons and slid her fingers across the touch pads in an opening motion and suddenly this sector had blown up to an image clear enough for the whole bridge to see.

"Zoom out and highlight any sections of space where any unusual tachyon readings; possible FTL jumps or sensor anomalies that seem out of place and correlate that with our traveled path through this space." Her voice stated sharp enough to make a normal person step back some. Soon after she said it; multiple regions started to highlight in red and yellow indicating where transmissions were noticed in normal and hyperspace. The computer began to draw lines which appeared near the Deathwalker as it made its way through the Expanse. White dots indicated anomalies while the red line indicated the Deathwalker. There was a definite correlation. "Well this has suddenly got interesting. We're being watched" She grinned.

"What are your orders Warmaster?" An'jash asked her.

"We wait; I have a trap for whoever has been following us. We just need to wait."

Elsewhere in space many light-years from where Jha'dur had her conversation with a Warmaster who previously had become known to her by the glorious act of saving a group of Spectres; many of them whom served under Jha'dur herself another Warmaster who was her own brother like her in the way he was the other side of a coin. One influenced biology while the other would influence astrophysics. Warmaster Sha'dur stared into the open space directly at the Tangrikin Wormhole. To him viewing it the stars seemed to swirl and twist around it as the gravitational distortions bending even light around it. It was an amazing sight to behold.

"Our guests are coming through Warmaster." Evenil said. Sha'dur stared at the video feed coming through into a direct 3d representation on the table in front of him. In a silent WOOSH! A giant ship came through elongated with a hull painted in black and red. Colors which made it look much like a deadly predator willing to kill many when cornered. Escorting it were two smaller ships which had a distinct "V" shape with the top portion filled out with metal leaving two tips extending out at an angle. Sha'dur was aware it was a new type of warship that the Narn intended to test out in relative secrecy. The plans were to utilize new pieces of technology the Dilgar planned to give them which included a new missile and advanced accelerator weapons. The Kah'ri wanted as much technology as possible from what was coined as "The Expanse". He respected the Narn greatly; especially after looking into their history as an agrarian society which turned warrior after being invaded and subjugated by the Centauri; like the Narn the Dilgar also wanted to attack the Centauri but those plans were several decades away. The Narn had technology which was traded to the Dilgar including Centauri ion weapon early designs; and the Dilgar in turn would supply the Narn with advanced technology recovered from the Expanse with the exception of FTL. Any Narn ship had the capability of ripping into an Earth Alliance or Dilgar cruiser; this is what makes the Narn a much respected race. Even Earth would supply the Narn with weapons shipments on occasion. Now those agreements have ended when it was known that the Narn and Dilgar signed alliances together and shared intelligence information in a variety of small ways. "I have Commander G'sten holding."

"Put him through." Instantly an image of a stoic Narn Commander; one that Sha'dur had admired for his bravery against the Centauri House Gaddo strike teams which made their way into Narn territory. He was very proud of the Narn for holding their ground; and with newly acquired technology from the Dilgar as part of their agreement when the Wormhole was found many years ago. The Narn according to many analysts would use the recovered Cylon technology which consisted of mostly computer, missiles, and advanced railguns to use those against their former oppressors the Centauri. It was also estimated they would use the robotic technology to automate ships including terraformers which made deadly worlds habitable somewhat. It would improve their military capacity greatly over the first four decades when it was predicted there would be another conflict brewing between the Centauri and Narn. The same analysts also say that it was unlikely the Narn would ever stage any military attacks on other League members save for the Drazi.

"Commander G'Sten; it is good to see you; I see you brought the shipment in a timely order as well. The actions of the Narn government have been very useful to us as I am sure we have been to you.

"Warmaster Sha'dur I can assure you that everything you and Jha'dur requested has arrived. We always guarantee that we are useful to each other. I do understand you have a special request?" G'Sten asked.

"We have had an unfortunate incident with the Colonials; we are planning to resolve the matter using hard diplomacy to put it best. If the possible presence of a third race is known to them it will hopefully cause them to back down from military action. It also helps us continue our plans in this sector." Sha'dur recalled. The Narn were very good mediators between races as it had helped the Dilgar settle disputes with the Drazi just shortly after wars end. They also helped settle an armistice between the Earth Alliance and Dilgar that allowed the Dilgar to retain much territory as long as races were evacuated off world. The Balosians refused and cut off all contact while the Alacans fled in the last remaining millions. Also they pulled out of Abbai, Cascor, Brakiri and Vree territories allowing their fleets to remain in concentration around Mitoc. By the millions; people from Omelos were being transplanted to Mitoc and other colonies that were habitable including the former Alacan homeworld.

"I will be glad to lend my assistance; I also intend to return with the organic metals and corg you have promised."

"They will be with you I will assure you that. I examined them myself; I can guarantee you that your metallurgists will have many uses for them." Sha'dur addressed. The 'corg' he referred to was a type of Cylon Organic Resin; something which he made into an organic metal which would grow into ship hulls improving structural integrity; him also made another type which would grow into armor providing it extra protection. It came in the form of a black paste substance which one could apply to metal and it would expand; it would take the ship a few weeks until it was completely coated in the substance but results were astounding. It was also a main technology which allowed the Dilgar ships to survive during the war. Over the decades it received many improvements; it was good against most energy weapons including kinetic impacts and allowed it to survive entry into high radiation environments. Sha'dur managed to refit a science ship to take a good look at Omelos's sun which gave him a better date for a possible supernova which was almost exactly a decade from now. He was also able to see that it was artificially induced somehow since residual tunneling particles were seen indicating hyperspace vortexes were opened long ago. He knew it was the Drakh or their masters as only they would be capable of such a thing.

"Thank you Warmaster; you have my word that the Narn will continue to be good allies of the Imperium. Together we will rival the Centauri in strength." The Narn put his arm across his chest in a salutary gesture of goodwill and respect.

Sha'dur smiled briefly as G'Sten closed the channel.

Onboard the Narn Ship Ortala

D'Plen made her way toward the cryochamber storage of the Ortala; she passed the many containers which held the frozen faces of still living beings; some of which were Narn criminals, Drazi, Alacans which were captured before the Armistice and Balosians captured from the war and subsequent occupations of those worlds. Many other species also were stored in those tubes ready for dissection or whatever Deathwalker had planned for them. She was only a minor maintenance tech but it still gave her access to otherwise sensitive areas of the ship. Some cryotubes were empty; as they were a trade from a human fringe group that settled on a world and started their own empire that spanned only two systems near the border of Narn space. They traveled sublight in many large colony ships until they hit a collapsing black hole 'according to Centauri reports; she suspected the Centauri brought the ship there themselves in a show off effort. Others believed it was Vree' which allowed the ship to cross many parsecs and end up in a habitable system. The empire called themselves the Lassan Empire after an obscure emperor that lived on Earth in the Middle East as the colonists themselves were of Middle Eastern descent. Unlike the Earth Alliance; the Narn had good trade relations with them as they had the capability of utilizing black market sources or an Earth company looking for some extra cash to gain technology and it was known that the Lassan Empire still had cryostorage facilities left over from the colonization. Many had human writing on them as she looked at each one of them. She looked at one in particular which only stored a human; the only human stored as she snuck him onboard. She started to activate the waking process once she knew it was clear. Last thing she needed was to be caught smuggling a spy into the most secretive territories of all that probably not even the Vree knew about. She didn't know how the Earth Alliance found out about this particular sector of space but she didn't care as it was no business of hers.

The tube began to fill with a warm blue liquid which was very light; it was less dense than air and easy to breathe without damaging delicate lung tissue it was purely designed that way by scientists back on Earth. The purpose of it was to help the body accumulate to a waking state from cryostorage; as it tends to be uncomfortable and sometimes harmful if the process is activated too fast or too slowly in some cases. Watching cautiously for a few moments she let the liquid subside toward the back of the tube until it opened; revealing a taller human with dark hair with a slightly wrinkled face indicating he was about forty in human years. In another small storage unit was a set of equipment he brought with him that would help in a mission with a set of many unknowns.

He stepped out completely naked as D'Plen gathered his clothing articles and watched him put them on. She only knew him by the name of "Jason" which she was sure was a pseudonym as EIA never went by anything close to their real names. One of the clothing articles he had was a special type of suit made out of the same materials the Spectre suits were; without the added side effect of radiation of course. Utilizing advanced holographic technology to mimic other's appearances would have added radiation which he didn't need so the suits were purely designed for invisibility only. "You can hide out here for a week; then you can stow away on the diplomatic station others have been talking about." She told him in a whisper. "Be careful out there; space out there is crawling with Dilgar and other Spectres. There are other races which are hostile so be careful." The last part was only rumor but she was certain he could find out all he needed to know to ensure his own safety. He was a professional after all.

"I will; did you make sure my equipment was here?" He asked, praying that he had the right equipment. He could have gotten by if it was only the stealth suit but it would have made the job impossibly hard.

"Yes; it's in that suitcase I recovered out of a cryo tube." She told him softly again making sure not to attract unwanted attention.

"Good; I can take everything on my own from here. I suggest you leave; I know where the food storage compartments are so I can sustain myself until we reach the destination." 'Jason' said to the Narn female. She had been useful this far; now was the time to get back toward work. He remembered being briefed by Intelligence Analyst Francis O'Leary and his girlfriend Heather over communications on shipments heading toward a nebular region very close to Ta'Kona'Sha space. He thought to himself that the Dilgar had some pretty big balls to have such an undertaking toward a region of space no race even the Centauri could penetrate. After several missions of simple intelligence reconnaissance it was known that it housed a wormhole toward another region of space which was known to have a connection with the new system discovered by IPX that had the name of "Sol Two" as it was almost identical to Sol itself that contained an extinct human civilization which most certainly didn't evolve on the world it settled. So far that's all he knew; and that there was a human civilization on the other side of the wormhole which may be related to the one discovered on "Sol Two". Either way he had to find out who they were and what connections if any they had to the Dilgar or the robotic beings that were rumored to reside here.

He opened his suitcase which contained an earpiece that acted as a translator; it was a state of the art technology passed down from the old IPhone of the 21st Century which had the apps of translating spoken voices and words into English. Now the app had turned into a piece of hardware which was capable of translating alien and human languages back into English at amazing speed. It even had the capability of translating spoken human speech should he encounter living humans there or any other race. It was a device compressed in an earpiece which could easily pass off as a hearing aid. The medical technology behind it was advanced enough to even give Jha'dur wet dreams. The human civilization discovered bore an eerie resemblance toward ancient Greek Civilization. His main mission was to discover the other human civilization and infiltrate it; and discover what the Dilgar plan to do with it. He turned on his invisibility suit and walked over toward the food storage. Now he just had to wait.

Asteroid field- Undesignated System

Silently through an asteroid belt a special type of Mercury Class Battlestar drifted silently. While normal human eyes couldn't perceive it very well; scores of Vipers and Viper Gunships were doing special training runs; their shadows briefly being seen on some small asteroids which were clumped together by a large rocky planet that had its side lit by a red giant sun; the atmosphere on its north pole being lighted by intense solar activity. It would be a hell of a sunrise to view however dangerous.

"C'mon Captain you can't be that frakking slick." Lt. Myer Castall said to himself; making sure that comms were silent as part of training. He positioned her large Viper Gunship; one of the brand new craft to recently come off of the Colonial assembly lines maneuvering it to catch up to the Stealth Viper which was represented by a very small red dot on the DRADIS screen. Through her helmet; designed with a holoband style interface it immersed herself in the likes of a real battle simulation that let others feel what a space battle truly felt like. He dodged weapons fire quickly; the type which was used by the LIST Laser Integral Simulation Trainer system designed to help pilots experience real combat simulations with the addition to the holoband style training. Through his holoband HUD the weapons fire was being shown as actual cannon fire instead of the laser designators on the outside of his ship. He flipped the gunship 180 degrees in a barrel roll to face an asteroid the 'enemy' was heading toward. Considering a sound tactic he fired a dummy missile which would just bounce harmlessly off the asteroid on the HUD it exploded in a shower of debris; which caused the enemy Viper to get within cannon range. He knew that the pilot of the Viper wearing the same equipment knew the asteroid had 'exploded'. He fired a large burst which connected finally but not before it turned toward her and fired another dummy missile which was programmed not to hit the ship but fire a laser at it indicating the missile had hit. He attempted to shoot the missile down but missed and had the warning on her HUD indicating her Viper Gunship had been hit and was crippled or destroyed. "Gods damn it!" He said to himself quietly.

"All ships return to Therion; training simulation is over!" The voice of the communications officer quickly bellowed through the wireless. All knew he had relayed the transmission from the XO most likely.

He piloted the Viper Gunship toward the flight deck; passing the darkened structure of the ship and landing softly on the deck. As with many members of what is sometimes called Ghost Group they wore black duty fatigues as they worked on the flight deck. The ship entirely was one of a few dedicated to black operations that only the highest of Admirals knew really anything about. The doors closed and atmosphere returned to the section of the deck. He quickly opened a hatch toward the Pilot's Room touching a poster of Captain George Amberson; a MIA pilot who vanished near the Cylon Armistice Line over a decade ago along with "Bulldog". He was considered a hero in Ghost Squadron and others touched his poster for good luck before and after leaving the pilots room.

"Well Lieutenant you did a damn good job out there; I think you should touch up on your countermeasures you could have destroyed that last missile easily." Captain Alexander Chen; the Commander of Ghost Squadron of the Therion told him.

"I haven't through about that one Sir; this damn thing is brand new they put some controls differently honestly I forgot where it was."

"That's why we always keep training. We want to be familiar with our new ships. After all we are the first of the Fleet to receive them. You almost beat your wife's time too." He chuckled. Captain Alexander Chen always knew there was a competition between him and his wife Lt. Jorainne Landry of who can destroy the Captain's Viper the fastest in training simulations. It had been an ongoing thing since the two started dating a couple years ago.

"Thanks; so why the early callback we were supposed to be out there for another two hours then chow?" He had asked; it was very rare for a training simulation to be recalled unless there was a dangerous accident or a new mission; usually the latter.

"New mission I take it this time? With all the alien stuff going on I take it we are going to go past the Armistice Line finally. I know the Phemos has and made contact with the Cylons. They took quite a beating from these aliens a few years ago; explains the lack of Cylon communications over the years." All of the Ghost Squadron was heavily briefed on the basics of the Cylon situations. It wasn't common for the Special Forces to get knowledge of events before even the President was reached though they were sure he would receive a more detailed briefing from the CID.

They both entered the Pilot's Briefing Room which had good comfortable seating in a darkened room lighted only by a few overhead and chair lights. Computer consoles also rested on the seats which could allow gun camera footage to be examined as well as other data coming from the Vipers. Everything was very well recorded. All the other pilots pulled out their notepads to await the arrival of the Commanding Officer- Commander David Burkett. Soon as the door opened and an Ensign saw him to call the room to attention everyone stood up. Trailing behind him was the XO- Colonel Amanda Regus.

"At ease everyone; we have a lot to go over. Colonel Regus will give the rest of the presentation from here." He said briefly. His somewhat bulky figure; a figure he maintained after years of working out and pushing the deck before he lost his left arm in an accident while trying to destroy a tree with explosives. He still maintained his figure and stance.

"Good evening everyone; you all did excellently in training today. We have got nothing but good reports on the testing of our brand new Viper Gunships; the pinnacle in Colonial Flight engineering technology." She had said in a very sharply heard female voice that showed very hard authority. "You all have a few more hours of flight time before everyone here is qualified to fly them completely and until we have all of our training hours accounted for. The reason why I called off the training for now is because we received a new mission right from the Admiralty. Now I have a question for everyone here. Who here has heard of the Pilos Colony?"

Soon enough a pilot in the back; Major Mordeen raised his hand to answer.

"Go ahead Major."

He stood up from his seat; Major Mordeen was one of the Raptor Ultra pilots; the Raptor Ultra being constantly refitted for many uses including troop transport, bomber or long range stealth recon ship; somewhat of a hotshot among the pilots he still was known for dedication to the mission and getting every last man out of the combat zone even if it meant him going in there himself. "Pilos Colony was a neutral Colony that declared independence after being settled by Tauron settlers before the civil war started. They were settled by the Slanese Movement which was being oppressed by hardline Tomull factions and thus got a hold on several freighters and made an FTL jump which brought it far from the Colonies. When their colony started to grow and expand they wanted nothing to do with the Cylon War that had happened so they stayed out of it and when the Cimtar Accords were in progress they made it clear that though their Colony was in Cylon territory the Cylons would never touch them and they seemed to agree with that." He then sat down and let the XO take the rest.

"Good job Major; We monitored transmissions from the Pilos in stealth ships across the Armistice Line ever since the Cylons established their holds there until all communication ceased a couple years ago; in the timeframe the Cylons were getting their asses handed to them by the aliens. Now that the President grew a spine and wants us to start doing full on reconnaissance missions." Some of the pilots chuckled at the remark. "This will be the first system we will look at; according to intelligence this system is currently unoccupied but we will be careful. We want to ensure everything is clear so we will jump directly into orbit and send you all down for an initial atmospheric reconnaissance. A Marine detachment led by Sergeant Glenn will head down to examine the area on the ground while you all are in the air for air support. If we are fired upon we make a fighting retreat; no use in having us to unnecessary engagements. We jump tomorrow at zero-five sharp. You boys and girls fly at zero-six and Marines will be leaving at zero-six-thirty. Commander Burkett you have the rest."

He quietly moved into her spot at the podium while she stood right next to him and surveyed the crowd. "We are receiving a new guest soon; I am sure some of you are familiar with the Scoutstar Phemos and her mission in and around the area. They have been of great help to the past few missions so she will be joining us tomorrow at around zero-eight and assisting the mission in the system alongside other missions which will pop up. They have examination facilities on hand to give us second analysis alongside our own. Keep in mind Colonial Fleet Command is preparing their asses for a potential assault by these aliens so have an eye out do not get complacent; we are the best of the godsdamn best and I want to keep it that way folks. I have already briefed the Marines on their mission so they know what's going on. You all are dismissed now; get some rest we have a lot of longgg days ahead of us." He said standing at attention returning the salute from the CAG.

Captain Alexander Chen remembered the Phemos; he briefly served on there before being transferred permanently to the Therion. He held high regards for their crew as they worked feverishly and at the top of Colonial Intelligence efforts. After the encounter with the aliens he had his pilots do intensive training to ensure their skills remained at the highest and training was done almost each day. He believed in having some down time for his men but doing activity was the highest priority for him. You never knew when there would be an attack, a terrorist attack or a rebellion by some fringe group. As long as his and everyone else's skills were honed he was happy.

They were at their bunks which had both males and females. Ghost Squadron long ago had removed separation of males from females after it was known that having the two together caused no issues. This became standard on most Colonial ships. "Do you think these aliens are gonna be near us?" Lt. Donald Ryden asked. He was a new recruit fresh out of CSST School (Colonial Special Tactics Training). So far he was doing great as a member of the Squadron; quickly learning ROE and OPS Standards. Captain Chen believed he had a bright future ahead of himself in Ghost Squadron and would be a great asset to the rest of the team.

"It's likely; we saw the reports the Cylons had their asses frakking handed to them. They also destroyed the Mercury but she put up a hell of a fight. I would say yes but hopefully we should be invisible whatever their version of DRADIS is. At least I can only hope. The Phemos has the same stealth tech we do and they were invisible to Cylon upgraded sensors that were supposedly reverse engineered off of the aliens so I believe it is."

"Well I am ready for action no matter what." Lt. Ryden said.

"Don't become such a hotshot pilot; keep in mind you are also being trained to be co-pilot on our brand new birds the Viper Gunship. Fresh off the assembly line and considered the best heavy fighters there are. Chief of the Deck will have a heart attack if the damn things are scratched." He chuckled.

"I will watch out sir. Hey are we still on bets for the Caprican-Tauron Pyramid game?" Ryden asked

"Frak yes how much are you pitching in?" Betting was a long term tradition with the Ghost Squadron; and it was all done in friendly terms.

"Fifty on Tauron; gotta bet on the underdog to win sometimes. I'm feeling lucky." He smiled.

"Well hopefully your luck will pan out but I'm still betting on the Bucs. Been a Bucs fan all my life; I watched almost every game when they had their off planet meets."

"I been to the Tauron Rams games as a kid; wanted to be a team player but the military seemed more promising. When I hit the highest on the CAVB (Colonial Aptitude Vocational Battery) I knew I would be destined for something greater. Then they sent me to the damn best and hardest training I ever had."

"Was Colonel Metz still in charge?" Captain Chen asked; remembering the large Colonel who would scare the shits into someone.

"Oh yeah the guy is harsh but he taught our class a lot. Best damn academy instructor I ever had. First week I was so damn sore I thought I would have to take a shot of heamala to loosen me up." He laughed.

"He had been there for well over twenty years. He used to be the XO of the old Battlestar Aurora before she was decommissioned and used as a training module. When I met him he was only a Major but moved up after destroying the hideouts of several Erebus cells. That's how you move up; know what the frak you're doing. The more you do that the more I am sure we will look at you with good eyes and great progress reports. Keep faith I am sure the Lords of Kobol watch over us.

Gemenon- Underground Bunker

"You ready for your first presentation; the CFO is expected to arrive here soon. You are presenting with Agent Honneyman so you will get a good look on how to proceed." Special Agent Travis Lonham said to Mr. Rinser the newly acquired Advanced Intelligence Analyst. With his telepathy alongside intellectual aptitude he had hoped to be a great asset to the Colonial Intelligence Division. Earlier he had asked why the term "Secret Agent" was never used and was quickly told that the term was used for military intelligence division when they still had spies. Now he heard that actual spies may be brought back. Quickly he became familiar with Admiral Matthias Stark after reading his dossier.

"Admiral Stark is a man of politics. Always head broiled with President Adar over the defense budget. Each time Adar wants to cut the defense budget Stark always slams the administration; slowing down the chamber or threatening the careers of politicians close to Adar. I swear the man could even stare down a Caprican Sand Tiger." Agent Lonham said sharply.

"Never scared to take consequences is he?" Joshua asked; still studying the dossier. There would be more guests to arrive but he probably wouldn't speak to any of them since it was Angela that was giving the main presentation. As he was working within the same department as her it gave him the same need to know as her so they could easily share information.

"The man has made a lot of high up friends in the administration who could easily work to impeach Adar if they so wished. The Quarom won't pass most of Adar's resolutions that require reduction of the military all because of Stark. The man is smart he knew we would see another war within forty years of the Cylon War. All he needs to do is go on stellar television and put out some sob story about the Adar Administration keeping the grand and glorious Fleet in disrepair and all of a sudden Adar's chances for reelection have dropped and the Colonial Fleet Budget has received another few billion credits. All because of fear of the Cylons; even today people are still scared of them."

"Damn this guy really knows his smarts. Why doesn't he run for political office?"

"Man doesn't have it in him anymore. After the Cylon War he used his political smarts to get high up. He played politics right; got previous Admirals to grow spines and have CFOs not be political pawns of the damn Presidential Administrations. Now he wants to continue his service to the Fleet as a military man rather than a civilian"

"It's a shock Adar hasn't forced Stark to resign yet; if this had been any other officer Adar certainly would have accepted a resignation within seconds." Joshua Rinser remarked.

"He won't; Adar may be a prick but he has the damn brains not to go against the military establishment. It would be godsdamn political suicide if Adar were to force his hand just to get a prominent member of the Fleet off his back! Now since the stuff with the aliens is going on I bet Admiral Stark is having a damn frakking orgasm over near unlimited budgetary control. There is even talk that within a year the Fleet and Marines may double in size. Hell since the Mercury was destroyed; recruiting centers are turning away people due to overflow. Its fraking nuts; but you would be amazed by how much hand Stark has in many areas beyond the military. He had been around for a while so he knows what the game is. Even the Quarom won't question him he has just that much pull." Agent Lonham said. He always would tell politics to the new Agents and Analysts; because it was like a card game to them you had to pull the right card to win a small bet; pulling the wrong cards would be a disaster in the making.

"Where else could he possibly have pull?" Joshua Rinser asked

"Well Stark while in the old Contracting Department used to deal with large businesses all the time. He would sell to the highest bidder instead of the lowest one; always about quality he was. He would get on the podium and remark how much of a loss people take by going to the lowest bidder. He now is trying to force his hand into the StellerCom matter with those new tachyon technologies. StellerCom wants to win the contract rights from the military establishment but Stark doesn't want a company that neared bankruptcy a year ago to handle such a contract. He was eyeballing ComTrans Inc as his brother Allen is head of that corporation. They win a lot of contracts nowadays and came out of the last recession just fine no major losses unlike StellerCom. Family matters rule in politics and business buddy. The Admiralty is full of politics to the frakking core." He said sternly.

Joshua Rinser took in carefully the words. He never liked it when people played politics but knew the military would do it to get what they wanted. Politics was always like a card game; pulling the right hand. He had read dossiers on each member of the Admiralty both Higher Half and Lower Half; the upper half consisted of the Chief of Fleet Operation; Commandant of the Marine Corps and Admiral of the Forces while the Lower Half consisted of the many Admirals who commanded their respective Fleets.

"Some of these guys earlier were pushing Admiral Stark to attempt a war against the Cylons; he was afraid they would rear their ugly metallic heads in Colonial space so he made sure the Fleet was at top readiness; another reason he fought against budget cuts. He would always say that the day we see a budget cut on the Fleet is the day that Cylons would walk into the homes of families across the Colonies and slaughter them like cattle. He made sure to push Adar for budget increases instead of cuts I would say they almost got their damn wars. If the aliens didn't show up I am sure we would be going against the Cylons guns blazing. Now they are pushing hard for a war against those aliens. I'd say it's probably gonna come soon so be ready. Admiral Zorba is the hardest pusher. Be careful of him should you ever run into him; if you were to brief these guys make sure it's on the facts only not opinions. He may try to trick ya. I hope im not scaring you with this; these are good rules to go by." Agent Lonham said.

"You're not scaring me; it's just that I never expected how deep this all goes." He swallowed.

"These guys are human just like any other man and woman; just stand your ground and stick to the facts like industrial glue. You are just going to watch so far and see how Angela does her work. She had even put a dossier together of everything the Cylons had given us so we are giving them more than they would expect since their initial briefings were only the basics. They don't know what we know but once they know then they can make their hopefully smart decisions. I have to go attend to another meeting; I will get you once the briefing is over. Good luck" He said as he left; leaving Joshua there to meet with Angela who showed up just a minute later.

"Are you all ready?" She had asked.

"Yeah I'm ready." He said calmly. He prepared his notebook and headed toward the conference room. The door was simply a standard wooden door with the plate that read "GIS Conference Room". He walked inside and noticed the large conference table with several chairs along with a smaller table in the back with a large screen which was covered up by an automatic plastic covering. He sat down on the leather office chairs and let the notepad rest on the table. He watched Angela place the Dossiers in front of four chairs so far. That told him four people would show up to this meeting other than just the Chief of Fleet Operations; Admiral Matthias Stark. Both of them waited patiently not really saying anything; Special Agent Lonham had left the area to attend toward other duties. The wooden door that was closed now opened and Joshua stood up to notice the arrival of three people while another held the door. His jaw almost dropped by the sight of the first one.

It was President Adar; the tall suited form was unmistakable though somewhat different than seen on television it was still the same man. Behind him were Secretary of War Samuel Hardson and finally Chief of Marine Corps Operations General Casslus Krag. The man holding the door was a tall older man wearing horn rimmed glasses and a much decorated Colonial Fleet Dress Uniform. The short grey hair told Joshua he had definitely served in the Cylon War a few decades ago. It occurred to him that the two uniformed men had served valiantly in the Cylon War and got to where they were for their dedication to service and the cause of defending humanity. He examined General Krag's uniform which was decorated with many medals and ribbons indicating he must have been through many hells of battles to get toward where he is. Earlier he heard that General Krag was the only surviving senior officer of a Marine Battalion that had fought on Leonis to drive back a large contingent of Cylons. That act there would pave the way toward his current position.

They all introduced themselves and Angela explained to them that he was there merely to observe the meeting part of training. They took no particular notice to it and sat down. "I hope everyone is ready tonight; we have a lot to go through. I would like to say that much of the information contained here and on your dossiers is based on factual and confirmed data by our assets within deep space. All information here is under Omega Code clearance." He remembered Omega Code was the most classified form of data; only senior intelligence or those authorized could get into it. She pushed a button on a remote to activate the large screen behind Joshua. He too stared at it taking notes while it was going on. "I would like you to open your dossiers toward page twenty-two." They looked at that page while the screen showed a picture of two females and a large robotic entity Joshua immediately recognized as a new type of Cylon Centurion taller with much bulkier armor and a long barrel coming from an arm which told him it was an energy weapon; most likely reverse engineered from the aliens. "As you all have heard we got into recent contact with the Cylons; and they look like us now. According to them they wanted to be more like us but go along their own path refusing to take part in diplomatic relations until they started to split when the aliens attacked. The Cylons started to dwindle in number until they were reduced to three holdings one of which now has vanished. The vanished one was known to hold the leading models which were hostile to other models that wanted to seek us out for help. When they contacted the diplomatic liner they handed over a large amount of data on the aliens and if you turn to page fifty it will introduce them." They turned their pages and the image on the screen changed that to an image of the creature; about human in height but with pointed ears and a thicker forehead with ridges noticeable. "These aliens are called Dilgar; and according to reports they are not native to this sector of space and come from another area that is far from here. The Cylon's don't know much about it but speculate there is a gateway or some type of advanced technology which hopefully we will discover soon. They used biological weapons against the Cylons which spread slowly then hit hard effectively crippling them. Also according to the Cylons there are other races they used the weapons on in order to wipe them out in a crusade of mass extermination in their main sector of space."

On the screen multiple video images started playing of green and yellow colored ships hanging high in orbit around planets; many with city lights clearly visible on the night side surface which started to become enveloped in bright flashes as asteroids started to slam on the surface. Many more flashes appeared until it became disturbingly clear that the Dilgar were bringing asteroids down on the worlds below themselves. Many heard of mass drivers and utilizing that in warfare but no plans ever came to fruition due to project budget cuts or fears of destroying perfectly good habitable worlds. The men in the room clearly now had faces of pure shock as their eyes were fixated on the destruction being shown before them. They now had to swallow the fact that if they got into such a war against this race it would be more destructive than with the Cylons.

The door suddenly opened to reveal Agent Travis Lonham who gave the hand signal for Joshua to exit the room. Angela still continued her presentation though one of the Admirals briefly glanced at Joshua then glanced back at the screen. They all paid no mind to that small interruption as they knew the CID was a very busy organization and its Analysts would get called in and out of meetings.

"What's going on now?" He asked; not happy of being pulled out of a major training event.

"There's been an incident. This one is huge and we need your skills badly on this one; it's pretty damn big we are heading on an immediate flight to Tauron." Agent Lonham said with a rush that made Joshua a bit nervous. Inside he felt his insides sink a little as he knew this had to be about as big as the alien threat looming overhead.

"Do I need to read your thoughts to know what is going on? Pulling me out of a meeting is pretty top there so I take it its large."

"Very large; we have just received word that Colonial Fleet Investigative Services has just captured an alien operating out of Tauron during a raid. They say he had on some strange invisibility suit and there is likely to be another one operating in the area so we have to be careful on this one Josh; it may get nasty." He knew that everything will get very nasty in just a few weeks. Josh took another drink of water and swallowed.

Battlestar Therion

Commander Burkett slightly adjusted his all black version of the Colonial Dress Uniform. Per all Special Forces regulations the vast majority of uniforms were black and without insignia other than rank. During non-deployments they would switch over to the standard Blue Dress but on all deployments and all other applicable operations; including times that the Ghosts would be deployed in some form or another they utilized the Dress Black. He looked over at most of the crew who wore the same black uniforms but was able to recognize them by face and rank. Screens lined the CIC which gave Commander Burkett a grand view of any and all situations going on around the ship. The Therion itself was covered in a special type of armor and material which made it invisible to the vast majority of sensors; it also gave it a blackened appearance against the normally dark background of space further adding to the stealth effect. He tilted his bald head to look at the clock which gave the time as 0755. The pilots would be in their Vipers getting ready for launch and a Marine Team would get ready to disembark from the ship. The times got pushed up a little bit due to a small FTL relay malfunction but it got fixed quickly by the experienced maintenance crews that operated round-the-clock there. "Do we have FTL coordinates inputted?"

"Yes sir we do." The Navigation Officer said.

"Have the crew get ready for FTL jump." He stated flatly.

"All hand all hands brace for FTL jump; I repeat brace for FTL jump." He stated soundly through the intercom. "Navigation begin countdown."

"Countdown initiated preparing for FTL jump in five….four…..three…..two….one…. Jump!"

The Battlestar Therion; a black shape moving against the black background of space disappeared in a flash of light as space folded around the ship…..

….and deposited it in low orbit around Pilos; the night becoming very visible to pilots inside the tubes facing the planet. The pilots looking through their launch tubes could easily notice the lack on lights on the night side indicating that civilization was clearly gone. Now they had to do an atmospheric reconnaissance to take a look at the ground below.

Meanwhile in the CIC the Commander and Colonel stood together; observing DRADIS and other sensor signals. Do we have any DRADIS contacts or sensor blips?" Commander Burkett asked. The ship was conducting a full DRADIS sweep of the planet and moon after it was initially confirmed the system was empty. Condition two was already set throughout the ship in case Dilgar or any other hostile force was to show up.

"Negative sir, no DRADIS signals or unusual sensor blips; the place is silent." The Navigation officer told him flatly.

Very well; launch all Vipers. Have the Marines trail behind them." He ordered. "Prepare B Team when ready." He stated; already having a secondary reconnaissance team which would do further scouting of the planet's surface.

"All Vipers launch I repeat All Vipers launch." The Navigation Officer said through the intercom which was patched directly through the flight pods.

"Well let's do it." Captain Alexander Chen said as he pushed the button for the thrusters. He felt the high G forces work against the flightsuit as he was catapulted out of the tube and in the upper atmosphere. He noticed he was at the lead of the formation already; making out the other three Vipers. He didn't see it but behind him was a grey dot which was clearly the large figure of a Raptor Ultra. Major Mordeen was piloting it alongside Sgt. Gleen who was also trained very thoroughly in the operations of Raptors and Vipers in the case the Therion would be short of pilots. In the case Major Mordeen would be incapacitated Sgt. Glenn would take over. Other Marine NCOs and officer were trained in some flight hours; one of the few to do so.

Already he could feel wind forces act against the Viper as it entered the atmosphere so he altered his flight to compensate for a slow but steady drop into the atmosphere which would allow him to see the surface about the height of an airplane about to land. "Shadow Squadron is DRADIS clear?" He asked the rest of the team; it was standard procedure to do this to ensure all DRADIS was functioning properly or that there wasn't an invisible to DRADIS ship around them that might have been sighted by visual. "Negative on DRADIS contacts everything is clear here." Lt. Jorainne Landry said over the wireless. It was followed by the rest of the team.

Descending deeper they were already starting to come into the daylight side of the planet; the clouds parting as they exited some nighttime storms which were common on Caprica-like planets. As they parted into the daylight side they all decided to take a much closer look; seeing forests and trees dotting the landscape.

"Hey guys did we ever pick up narrowband satellite transmissions in orbit or anywhere else in the system? These guys usually had a few satellites and planetary bases lying about they might still be transmitting somewhere."

"They found none; which is why they had us check out the planet. Then again we don't really know where their bases our since they been out of touch with the Colonies for so long. There is a city up ahead I suggest we circle get some cover for the Marine team. I am sure some sensors may pick up power readings but I doubt it; might as well wait until an orbital scan is completed fully." Captain Chen stated.

Soon enough they approached a large city; filled with multiple skyscrapers but none looking like the curved elongated skyscrapers of Caprica City. Some old nations on Tauron utilized a more square or rectangular shape to their buildings rather than the curved oddly shaped structures common on Caprica. Temples near the cities could be seen but some looked like they had signs of damage. In some of the skyscrapers large holes can be seen where fires used to burn and some buildings even appeared on the verge of collapse with some signs of bombardment. Other structures remained oddly intact.

"What the frak happened down there?" Lt. Jorainne Landry asked.

"I see bodies… lots of them." Lt. Castall said softly through the wireless; certain the crew on the Therion could hear them and were listening in shock. The Ghosts took their Vipers for a close ground look and flew at subsonic speeds enough to where they could almost hover and take notice of the scenery. Already they saw bodies littering the streets; laying on top of cars some even on rooftops. Elsewhere they noticed a crashed helicopter and several downed aircraft and shuttles indicating they tried to flee.

"Keep it together guys; have our cameras point toward the ground get some aerial reconnaissance photos. We will be keeping air support for the Marines."

Raptor Ultra 519

"Alright Marines; don your NBC gear; we got reports of dead bodies down there just lying in the streets. We see any hostiles we shoot on sight understood?" Sgt. Glenn yelled at the back of the grey heavily armored Raptor Ultra drop craft. Sgt. Glenn was a hardline Marine; been in Marine Corps Ghost Division since he ever enlisted; he was in ground missions on Aquaria during a major Erebus insurrection against the spaceport there saving over eight-hundred hostages. It was his most heroic act after his Marine squad encountered a vehicle borne improvised explosive device which wiped out the majority of his squad including his platoon leader however he single handily fought back with several other Privates; destroying a major communication device the terrorists utilized and snipered the terrorists leader. When reinforcements came to relieve him finally he had killed over fifty terrorists including one of the leaders of the largest cells operating in Aquaria. Back home he was hailed a hero and awarded the Distinguished Service Star for his heroic actions.

The Marines put on their NBC Gear which had a grass pattern camouflage; like the other members of Ghost Squadron these had neither rank nor insignia. Their helmets had sensor data which could analyze air chemicals and compounds to determine if it is safe to breathe or not. They also examined for radiation.

"Air sensors are showing no trace of chemicals but watch out. We keep the suits on in case there are biological agents present on the surface." Sgt. Glenn said looking at sensor data from the advanced sensors placed on each Raptor Ultra. "We will land near the city! We stick together and search together. No splitting up this time folks; this is just an initial recon mission. Last thing I need is a man being left behind somewhere; we are the most valuable assets we have right now and I prefer to keep it that way!" He yelled one more time letting his men know the mission protocols. Turning toward the screen he saw they were approaching land quickly; the Marines holding on to hand railings as G-forces increased during slowdown. As it neared land in a grassy field next to a grouping of houses the Marines each prepared to exit. Sgt. Glenn moved into the troop compartment and closed the blast doors separating that compartment from the cockpit and ensuring no air is transmitted between the outside and the cockpit. Major Mordeen would remain behind to monitor the Marines from the Raptor and keep guard on it as well.

Each of the Marines braced for a moderate 'Thud' as it hit the ground; grass blowing from the wind generated by the engines. The rear hatch opened and two-by-two the Marines exited the craft. And boy was they happy to be on some type of planetary soil again. They circled the Raptor; having their weapons at the low ready position examining the surroundings for any signs of activity. "All clear Sergeant!" One of the Marines shouted through the wireless that was embedded in the Advanced Combat Helmet designed by the top bidder in the Colonial Defense markets.

"Alright; head toward those houses. Move!" He said quickly through the wireless and they all moved in unison toward the houses; soon moving over a fallen chain link fence. As they were all well past the Armistice Line they thought either Cylon's or aliens could show up at any moment; though they figured it was more of the latter. Most of the Marines felt the Cylons probably had their robotic asses handed to them by the aliens according to whatever intelligence was gathered by possibly the CID and Colonial Forces Intelligence Division; considered one of the most elite of intelligence gathering services the Colonies had.

Moving past the chain linked fence they moved through a small woodline with nothing really to be seen except old signs on the trees which have since rusted and can no longer been read except by a computer or further repair. They approached a small creek and watched as several fish swam upstream quickly scared by the approach of the Marines. Each stepped in the water as their NBC suits also acted as waterproof keeping them dry as they made their way toward another clearing. Each could see an outline of houses through the trees including what looked like a paved road but it was since covered by some brush and weeds after being unattended for a while. "Hey Sergeant; how old is this colony supposed to be?"

"I don't frakking know probably well over a hundred years; they didn't come unprepared either." He stated; recalling that the colonists brought over construction equipment and whatever else they needed to establish a bunch of cities. Well over three million left Tauron just to escape the Taritime Persecution when the hardline government started to crack down. "We're coming on the first building; get ready to clear it. Steleman and Nissa you secure the front. We will clear from the front till the back of the building." Sgt. Glen said quietly through the wireless. He made sure each Marine and the Raptor behind them could hear them.

The house they approached was a light red drab stone structure with a curved down roof and a chimney. On the sides of the stone steps were spires which were decorated with images of the Gods and chariots. Others were decorated with images of animals; mostly pets which were carved by children due to the squiggles of some carvings. On the street they could see several cars all rusted including the remains of bicycles and children's carts. Toys and other debris littered the road as nature started to slowly take over. "Alright let's move in." Sgt. Glenn ordered. Quietly they opened the wooden door and shined their flashlights through the house kicking up dust. There were a few decayed pictures lying about including plants growing through the floorboard. The wooden walls had paint falling off indicating the house was kept in disrepair for a very long time; if the Marines took their NBC suits off they could easily smell the odor of rotting food and animals present that used to either be pets or livestock that was kept. To their right they saw a living room; filled with dusty furniture and shelves with old literature which the Marines were particularly interested in examining but didn't due to the time constraints of the mission. It was a search and ground reconnaissance only not a scavenger hunt. A wireless transceiver rested next to a couch; still plugged into a wall. It was an eerie feeling; almost as if they went back in time several decades.

"Found a body; kitchen." One of the Marines said. Sgt. Glenn moved into the kitchen which already looked like it hadn't been used in years. Dishes looked decayed and covered in soot not having been washed in years and still lying in extremely contaminated water which another Marine promptly took a sample of. Food appeared to be set on the table which the Marines couldn't even identify as it was all rotted away from years of being taken by insects and other organisms. The body still wearing tattered clothing was somewhat skeletized through years of decomposition. Another Marine happened to take samples of bone fragments and hair so that labs on the Phemos and Mercury could analyze it. Decayed skin fragments fell off the dead man's body over the years; littering the table and floor. The tablecloth was covered in wooden chips that sometimes fell from the ceiling an indication the structure was going to continuously rot given the weather changes throughout the season. Dust already started to float up and block some of the Marines flashlights.

"I checked the room's sir they are all clear. No other bodies." Another Marine who was sent to examine the rest of the building said to him. "Air support also says there is no activity in the city."

"Medical any guesses?" Sgt. Glenn asked the Marine Medic that always accompanied each team.

"Honestly sir I would say it was some type of biological agent. Not a natural one." Marine Medic Samy Santorna stated. Ghost training for medics commonly included training in biological agents including how to spot suspected signs even mass ones.

It was a sight that would be with them for a very long time.


End file.
